Improving university pathways for Queensland's Western Downs

Federal Assistant Minister for Education and Regional Development, Anthony Chisholm will officially open a new Regional University Study Hub in Chinchilla today, which will be known as the Country Universities Centre (CUC) Western Downs.

The new university hub provides dedicated support for students across the region to access and complete a tertiary education.

CUC Western Downs was one of the 10 new Regional University Study Hubs announced in March 2024, and is one of 12 regional hubs across Queensland to be funded through the Australian Government’s Regional University Study Hubs Program.

This hub, right in the centre of Chinchilla, will bring tertiary education closer to home for students who would otherwise have to travel over 150kms each way to attend university, or move away from their hometown.

With only 10.8 per cent of people in the Western Downs region have a bachelor’s degree or higher, the new hub will help more students pursue a tertiary education while remaining near the support network.

The hub is also expected to provide support for local First Nations students, with 7.6 per cent of the Chinchilla population identifying as First Nations.

Increasing the number of study hubs in regional and outer-suburban communities was a priority action of the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report, and contributes to the government’s target of helping 80 per cent of the country’s workforce attain a university degree, or TAFE qualification, by 2050.

Further information on the program, including a list of funded hubs, can be accessed here.  

Quotes attributable to Minister for Education, Jason Clare:

“Today, almost one in two young people in their 20s and their 30s have a university degree. But not everywhere. Not in the outer suburbs and not in regional Australia.

“The Universities Accord makes it clear that we need more people from the regions and outer suburbs to get a university qualification.

“The evidence is that where University Study Hubs are established, university participation goes up, and that’s why we’re doubling them right across the country.

“Bringing university closer to where you live will encourage more people, who otherwise might decide not to go to university at all, to give it a crack.”

Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister for Education and Regional Development, Anthony Chisholm:

“CUC Western Downs is a great example of how these study hubs help regional, rural and remote students achieve academic success.

“Almost half of students who have studied at one of these hubs are the first in their family to attend university and as someone who was the first in their family to attend university, this is fantastic to see.

“Only 20.5 per cent of young people across regional Queensland have a university degree. Creating new hubs across our state makes attaining a degree easier - no matter where students live.

“Regional University Study Hubs open up new opportunities for students from these areas, and by tailoring university offerings to the needs of regional communities, we’re engaging more students and levelling the playing field regardless of where students live.”