Seven years ago, Australia’s Hayne Royal Commission exposed eye-watering misconduct in the design and distribution of many financial products. The government’s response was to require banks and insurance firms to provide consumers with more information about what they are offering, known as product disclosure statements. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) outlines principles for good disclosure, requiring information to be relevant, complete and easy to understand.
These rules are a crucial way to help people make more informed choices about whether signing on the dotted line would genuinely be in their best interests. Yet no such obligations apply to universities. Higher education is one of the largest…