My immediate thoughts when I heard it agree with the above. It feels like it's being presented as a generous salvation from on high, when really it changes little and possibly causes more problems.
An ATAR is not an objective exam score - it's a
percentile, a comparison or ranking of people within the same system. The same number of people will get 99.95s and 88.30s and 64.25s under Covid-19 conditions as would have in normal years. Maybe the average score on the same exam is 60% this year rather than 70% in normal years - but people's ATARs remain the same. ATARs are also state-based not national, so we're not disadvantaging Victorians compared with Queenslanders, for example.
I understand that some people are far more significantly affected by this than others, but that's always the case. All you're doing is shuffling round the factors that affect comparative rankings - now it's based more on subjective teacher relationships and expectations than actual performance. Way to put an unjustifiable burden on already-stretched teachers!
Perhaps the same schools that are more disadvantaged due to poorer online teaching and systems will also have teachers less able to write convincing justifications.
That said, I think one of the reasons why they can present it as a win-win is that, barring a massive turning point in the global vaccine hunt, the COVID-19 situation is going to completely block international students from coming to Australian universities next year, leaving heaps of places for domestic students, as long as they meet minimum entry requirements.
I know *nothing* about this, but I imagine the number of places in each course are based partly on projected employment needs in different industries. International students may be given extra places because they're more likely to seek employment in other countries and not overburden our workforce (and make things cheaper for the govt as they pay full fee!) But no idea.