The Australian Minister of Education Julie Bishop released a paper The Bologna Process and Australia: Next steps on 4^th April about the significance of the Bologna Process for Australia. The paper aims to stimulate debate about the issue and eventually develop an effective response to the Bologna Process. It highlights the importance of the Bologna Process and the strong impact it is likely to have on higher education, both on Australia and globally. It also lists the risks associated with Australian higher education institutions choosing to be ‘incompatible’ with the Bologna Process:

• The scale of the process and the importance of the countries involved may lead non-European countries to align their system to the Bologna Process;
• Europe’s attractiveness may increase to the disadvantage of Australia, and if the latter chooses to ignore Bologna, Europe’s attractiveness is likely to be even greater.

Julie Bishop states in her paper that if Australia wants to remain an attractive destination for international students, it is important that it maintains alignment with these developments. Stakeholders have been invited to react to the paper by 30^th April 2006.