6 February 2023 — UNESCO is pleased to announce that Australia is the newest State Party to  the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education after depositing its instrument of ratification with the Director-General.

The Department of Education of the Australian Government has said:

‘Ratification of the Global Convention was a significant milestone and Australia’s active participation in the global education community. It complements our leadership in regional fora such as the Tokyo Convention, where we work with other countries to help international students and graduates realise the value of their education as they pursue further higher education and/or employment opportunities.’

Australia’s respective Ministers for Education and Skills and Training have issued a joint statement that the Global Convention,

‘…ensures students who study with Australian education institutions will have their qualifications recognised in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner around the world.’

 ‘The global pandemic’s disruption to education access and continuity has highlighted the importance of providing high-quality education beyond traditional in-person and in-country models…’

‘Australia will continue to champion best practices globally to support two-way mobility of students and graduates.’

The Global Convention will enter into force in March 2023. Australia recognises that students and graduates from Asia-Pacific are internationally mobile in both the region and around the world. As strong regional representation on the Global Convention is paramount to its success, Australia encourages Asia-Pacific countries, as a natural progression, to join the Tokyo Convention as part of their engagement with the Global Convention. Joining these unique forums for collaboration will assist countries and the Asia-Pacific region to realise the transformative benefits of education.

Speaking on behalf of the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, which has promoted the benefits of ratifying both the regional and global conventions, Mr Libing Wang, Secretary of the Tokyo Convention Committee and head of the Section for Educational Innovation and Skills Development (EISD) at UNESCO Bangkok, commented:

‘Congratulations to Australia for taking the lead with Japan in the Asia Pacific to ratify both the Global Convention and Tokyo Convention on qualifications recognition, which are complementary. We hope other countries will follow suit to ratify the UNESCO Recognition Conventions and promote cross-regional cooperation on academic recognition and mobility. Asia-Pacific is poised to lead with some of the largest sending and receiving countries in the world for academic mobility. UNESCO Bangkok is looking forward to working with Australia as the 2023 President of the Tokyo Convention Committee.’

For further information, contact: Wesley Teter, Section for Educational Innovation and Skills Development, UNESCO Bangkok; eisd.bgk(at)unesco.org.

Photo: On behalf of Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO (not present in photo); Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO (left); and Deciana Speckmann, Chargée d’Affaires, Permanent Delegation of Australia to UNESCO.