Bill Shorten will retire from parliament in February but will remain in cabinet until then to continue his reform of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

He will then become the vice-chancellor of the University of Canberra, starting in time for the new academic year.

Shorten, 57, who is minister for the NDIS and minister for government services, announced his career switch at a news conference with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Shorten entered parliament in 2007 after years as a trade union leader. He was a parliamentary secretary in the Rudd government and a minister in the Gillard and second Rudd governments. He led the Labor Party in opposition from 2013 to 2019. He ran then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull close at the 2016 election, and was expected to win in 2019 but was defeated by Scott Morrison in a surprise result.

As long-term rivals and from different factions, Albanese and Shorten have had a tense relationship at various times over the years.

Shorten told the news conference: “I have experienced some extraordinary political highs in the last 17 years. [And] let’s face it, some extraordinary political lows. There is not a single day in the last 17 years that I would hand back.”

Shorten said he had had a choice – to seek more parliamentary terms or “step into a new career while I am relatively young enough to make that choice, and can choose a career consistent with my ideals about ensuring that people can fulfil their potential”.

One of the originators of the NDIS, Shorten pledged he would use “every minute left in this job to secure the future” of the scheme.

The prime minister said he had “asked Bill to remain in cabinet until he departs in February because he and I agreed there is important work still to be done to put the National Disability Insurance Scheme on a sustainable footing”.

A February resignation would not require a byelection – Shorten’s seat of Maribyrnong, in Melbourne, could remain vacant until the election, even if that is in May.

Shorten said the University of Canberra Council had approved his appointment on Wednesday afternoon.

He said the university was “rated number one in the world for reducing inequalities”, where 40% of graduates of the first in family to obtain a degree.

“That was my mother’s story so for me this is the fair go in action.”