Australians believe we live in a fair and egalitarian country. We believe in a fair go: in equality of opportunity. We also believe that accessible education and training is a fundamental right and it facilitates prosperity, social mobility and a richer and more engaged economy.

However, despite expansionary higher education policies we see evidence of increasing inequality, intergenerational unemployment, failure to address rural and regional disparities, falling performance in international standardised school testing and static social mobility.

This suggests we need to confront some major questions.

At the second Tertiary Education Policy event by KPMG and the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education on 26 Februrary 2018, we debated the ways to achieve a more equitable system and asked:

• Is the education system a cure or a curse?
• Are the biggest beneficiaries of the current system the wealthiest and most advantaged members of society? 
• Has the higher education system been colonised by the rich to benefit the rich?

Watch a series of videos recorded at the event with the panellists.