University of Queensland vice-chancellor and UQ Senate president Professor Hoj was recently appointed the head of Australia's leading university research body, the Group of Eight universities.

The Australian newspaper reports that the Federal Government intends to transfer $3.7 billion from the Education Investment Fund to the National Disabilities Investment Scheme to fill a funding shortfall.

The Education Investment Fund is used to pay for new infrastructure at Australia's universities.

Professor Hoj said shifting money from the Education Investment Fund to the National Disability Insurance Scheme was a mistake that weakened research at universities.

"We absolutely agree the NDIS should be funded adequately ," Professor Hoj said.

"But using EIF monies is not appropriate," he said.

"Damage research and you damage not only the medical advances that come from research, but indeed the economy which sustains many of the services we wish to have available in the long term."

The NDIS began in Townsville (July 2016) and is being progressively rolled out in Queensland in Mackay and Toowoomba (by June 2017).

It will be scaled into the rest of Queensland over the next two years reaching Brisbane between July 2018 and June 2019.

There has been little public evaluation about the early introduction of the NDIS in Queensland, with community groups only recently becoming involved in the complex new care package for people with disabilities.

In September 2016, Geelong mother Dr Katrina Alford – who cares for her disabled daughter contacted Fairfax Media to warn Queenslanders that a review of the introduction of the NDIS by Price Waterhouse Coopers found the insurance arm of the scheme was "inadequate at the outset."

The September 2016 NDIS study report by PWC was released by Social Services Minister Christian Porter as the government grappled with introducing the major change in disability care.

Overall the report warned there were flaws that needed to be identified otherwise the NDIS might collapse before reaching full capacity in 2019.

Unis need guidelines to fund research: Hoj

Professor Høj became University of Queensland's Vice-Chancellor in October 2012 and was elected in January to succeed University of Sydney Vice-Chancellor Dr Michael Spence as Go8 chairman.

Go8 chief executive Vicki Thomson said Professor Høj would bring political and community awareness to the  Group of Eight universities role.

"We are keen to harness his skills as we work to secure long-term sustainable policy and funding direction from Government," she said.

Professor Høj said Australia's universities needed clear guidelines to fund research.

"Australia cannot deliver an innovation-driven knowledge economy without a world-class, well-resourced university sector that produces quality graduates and outstanding research combined with a strong desire to work in partnership with all sectors of the economy," he said.

"One only has to look at the rise of Asian universities in key rankings to realise that higher education is fiercely competitive."

Queensland – and Brisbane's economy – relies heavily on the impact of international students with colleges, accommodation and class fees a major contributor.

There were 103,251 international students enrolled in Queensland in 2015, generating $2.9 billion in export earnings for Queensland.

Queensland government schools receive over $30 million in tuition fees per year from international students, with 2,500 students from overseas enrolled in 75 government schools around the State.

International students pay $12,000 a year to study in specially accredited government schools, concentrated mainly around Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast.

International student education is a $19.2 billion industry Australia-wide.