Release type: Media Release

Date:

More Australians to get a crack at uni in 2026 with an extra 9,500 domestic places across the country

Ministers:

The Hon Jason Clare MP
Minister for Education

More Australians will get a crack at uni in 2026 with the Australian Tertiary Education Commission allocating an extra 9,500 domestic places to universities on top of 2025 levels for next year.

This is about 4.1 per cent growth year on year and means the number of Australians starting uni will be at record levels.

Expanding access to university education is what the Universities Accord is all about with a target for 80 per cent of the workforce to have a tertiary qualification by 2050, up from around 60 per cent today.

The only way to do that is to open the doors of our universities wider and help more people from the outer suburbs and the regions start a uni degree.

The Albanese Government is investing $66.9 million to more than double the number of University Study Hubs in suburbs and towns across the country. 

Since coming to office we have also more than doubled the number of students registered for the Hubs.

There are now 6,937 students registered for the Study Hubs, 2.5x the number when we came to office.

Before the end of the year, the Government will open another seven new Study Hubs in:

  • Fairfield, NSW
  • Liverpool, NSW
  • Northam, WA
  • Beenleigh, QLD
  • Kangaroo Island, South Australia
  • Sorrell, Tasmania
  • Norfolk Island

Ministers Clare and Bowen will officially launch the Fairfield Suburban Study Hub tomorrow (7 November).

Quotes attributable to Minister for Education Jason Clare:

“We’re creating more places at uni so more Australians get a crack at uni.

“More and more jobs require more and more skills.

“More people are starting a uni degree than ever before, and that will go up again next year.

“Opening the doors of our universities wider to more people from the suburbs and the regions isn't just the right thing to do, it's what we have to do. 

“Otherwise, we won't have the workforce we need and the economy will be stuck in second gear.

“Nearly half of young people in their 20s and 30s in Australia have a degree but not in the outer suburbs and not in the regions.

“We’re building study hubs across the country to bring uni closer to where people live.

“We know study hubs work. The evidence shows that where study hubs are, university participation goes up."