The Universities Accord has been described as a once in a generation reform agenda for higher education in Australia. It envisages a future where almost everyone goes to university. What does it mean for the records and archives professions? Our sector is comparatively small. We wear twin hats in which we align our services with both accountability and cultural heritage. The jobs with the title ‘archivist’ in them are few yet keeping and using information that is valuable is central to many parts of the economy. The kinds of work we are asked to do involve complex environments in which we adapt how we work to meet a wide range of needs and goals of the communities our organisations serve – users, funders, wider society.
From the university teacher’s perspective, the three strands of practitioners/employers, professional associations and educators must work together to envisage our future and work towards it. The model of futuring invites communities to get active in envisaging the futures they want. Rather than deferring responsibility with a ‘they should do something about …’, instead futuring brings us all to the task of being part of imagining that future. In this panel, educators from the region project forward to 2050. We take stock of where we are – for example, we all teach online, just one undergraduate course remains. We draw some conclusions from our futuring to work towards a better understanding of what is taught at archives school and what we should or could teach and why. The panel will be led by educators in the region, but this is an opportunity for a futuring dialogue with the whole community.