Equity and markets

Abstract

This chapter looks at what markets mean for equity groups discussed in A Fair Chance for All. It discusses in chronological order the government’s decision to become involved in market-based policies. The basic thesis advanced is that the supply of student places is vital to the academically disadvantaged equity groups. While the total number of places was not ignored in A Fair Chance for All or in later policy, it has received too little attention relative to its significance. Although market alternatives to regulating the number of student places and their fees were suggested at the time and subsequently, no comprehensive market-driven policy reform has ever made it through the political process. Yet through several steps over 25 years most student places have come to be distributed by markets or quasi-markets. It is no coincidence that most equity groups experienced their largest enrolment surges after controls on undergraduate student numbers in public universities were lifted.