The Ownership, Governance and Accountability of Tertiary Institutions in New Zealand

Abstract

Significant changes have been made since the late 1980s to the funding, governance, and accountability of New Zealand’s public tertiary education institutions (TEIs). The new governance framework, which was introduced by the fourth Labour government in 1990, has been the subject of numerous criticisms. According to the government’s departmental advisers on tertiary education, the new regime exposes the Crown to significant ownership risks, provides insufficient incentives for sound financial management, gives too much power to vested interests, unduly limits the government’s capacity to intervene in the wider public interest, and leaves TEIs insufficiently accountable for their use of public resources. This article examines the merits of these criticisms, and assesses the various proposals for reform.