Legislation passes House to get more Australians to uni

Legislation to help more Australians get to and get through uni has passed the House of Representatives today.

The Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill will make two major reforms to our university system.

• It will establish Managed Growth Funding to build a bigger, better and fairer education system that gives more Australians the chance to go to university.
• It will also put in place Needs-based Funding so young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and the regions get the support they need to succeed at uni.

This is the seventh piece of legislation introduced by the Albanese Government to implement the Universities Accord.

This legislation means an extra $3.6 billion funding for universities over the next decade.

Managed growth

This year more students are starting uni and we’re building on that.

Over the next three years, there will be an additional 16,000 places for students in the system each year.

From 2030, this will increase to 19,000 additional places each year.

Over the next decade we expect an additional 230,000 students commencing university studies. We are funding that growth and giving the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) the tools to manage it.

The Government will set the total number of Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) and the ATEC will allocate those places to universities.

The ATEC will also have the power to allocate additional places where it thinks they are needed to meet the demand from students from disadvantaged backgrounds and from regional and remote communities.

This legislation will also effectively uncap places for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and from regional and remote communities.

Needs-based funding

The Gonski model for school funding provides schools with extra funding based on where they are located and the needs of the students they educate.

Students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds receive additional support and so do schools in regional and remote communities.

This legislation is like Gonski for universities.

Universities will receive more funding as they enrol more students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, First Nations students, and students studying at regional campuses.

This will create more opportunities for regional Australians, help them study closer to home and build the skilled workforce our regions need.

In NSW at Charles Sturt University with campuses in Wagga, Orange, Bathurst, Dubbo, Albury-Wodonga and Port Macquarie, it means thousands more students going there and between $200 million and $500 million in extra funding over the next decade. 

In Queensland at Central Queensland University with campuses in Townsville, Rockhampton, Mackay, Bundaberg, Cairns, Gladstone and Emerald, it could mean up to $260 million in extra funding over the next decade.

That’s an extra three quarters of a billion flowing into these towns and more will go to other regional universities across the country.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Education Jason Clare:

“The Universities Accord set a target that by 2050, 80 per cent of the workforce will have a TAFE qualification or a university degree. 

“The only way to do that is if we break down the barriers that stop so many young people from getting to university.

“Talent is everywhere. It’s opportunity that’s not. 

“These reforms will mean more young people from poor families and from the regions and the bush get a crack at university.