V-cs warn ‘poverty line’ PhD stipends imperil Australian research

Doctoral stipends in Australia should be increased to A$36,000 (£18,265) to ensure students are not living below the poverty line during their PhD, vice-chancellors have urged.

Those studying for a PhD should also be able to access government-funded parental leave currently denied to those receiving the tax-free stipends, which last year amounted to A$32,192, about $619 a week, putting doctoral candidates “barely above the poverty line”, says a review by Universities Australia published on 17 January.

Increasing the minimum stipend to a “sustainable level aligned with the cost of living, with regular indexation” – which would see it rise to $36,000 in 2026 – while also making PhD students eligible for parental leave and removing taxation on part-time stipend scholarships would cost $300 million over four years, states the report.

Those with families – the average age of a domestic PhD student is 34 – often found the stipend “insufficient”, the report continues, claiming it “forces many people living as a couple or with dependents to live below the poverty line”.

Raising the state-set stipend would “allow PhD candidates to focus on research and reduce financial barriers, thereby promoting equity and diversity in the PhD landscape,” it adds.

It notes that “while universities can theoretically increase stipends”, with some offering up to $40,000 a year, “doing so without a larger Research Training Program (RTP) budget reduces the number of scholarships available”.

“This adjustment [would acknowledge] that stipends have historically fallen short of a living wage, while also recognising that many PhD candidates have families or have left salaried positions to pursue research,” it says.

"While some universities may still need to supplement stipends to approach a living wage, a government-backed increase would be a valuable middle ground.”

The recommendations come amid a dip in the number of domestic PhD enrolments, which fell 8 per cent between 2018 and 2023 from 43,174 to 39,801, despite the overall population in Australia growing by 7 per cent over this time frame.

That was mainly caused by a strong labour market for undergraduates, insecure job prospects in academia and relatively low PhD funding, yet the decrease posed a “serious threat to Australia’s research and development capacity”, insists the report.

Universities Australia also calls on the Canberra government to double the number of international PhDs it funds, with the Department of Education currently capping international students from receiving no more than 10 per cent of any RTP funding.

To do so, the federal government should increase the overall RTP funding budget to support additional international candidates without reducing the number of domestic candidates – a measure that would cost about $500 million over four years, Universities Australia argues.

This measure would particularly benefit regional universities because the 10 per cent cap is “especially restrictive” for these institutions, explains the report, which notes that “many international PhD candidates can only study in Australia because universities find alternative funding sources for their programmes – an option that regional universities often struggle to provide”.

“International PhD candidates represent a valuable future talent pool for Australia, whether they stay and work locally or continue collaborating internationally,” it explains, stating that “in areas where there are not enough domestic graduates to meet Australia’s research needs, recruiting and educating international candidates is essential for the nation’s future.”

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com