Carol Berry (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

I am proud to speak in support of the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026 because it continues the Albanese Labor government's reforms to help build a better and fairer education system for our country. The bill's title alludes to a statement made by the Prime Minister four years ago after Labor won government. The Prime Minister said:

… I want every parent to be able to tell their child no matter where you live or where you come from, in Australia the doors of opportunity are open to us all.

To illustrate my passion for ensuring equal opportunity for all Australians, I would like to tell you about an amazing person in my electorate of Whitlam who has done incredible things with their education. I spoke about this person in the Federation Chamber earlier this week: Dr Jodi Edwards, a Yuin Dharawal woman who has dedicated her life to community, culture and language across New South Wales, including in the southern Illawarra region of my electorate of Whitlam. Jodi grew up in the southern Illawarra and experienced much of the structural disadvantage that impacts so many First Nations Australians. Jodi left school in year 10 to support her family after her father was injured in a workplace accident. However, Jodi is a determined woman and decided she wanted to pursue her education. She returned to high school at the age of 26 to complete her HSC—the first in her family to do so. Jodi did not stop there. Against all odds, Jodi was awarded her PhD from Macquarie University in 2021. Dr Jodi Edwards now works at the University of Wollongong, where she is the vice-chancellor's Senior Indigenous Research Fellow with the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security.

Two years ago, the Albanese Labor government invested in the University of Wollongong's Unbroken Whispers project, which is led by Dr Jodi Edwards. Blending Indigenous research and modern science, Jodi and her team are tracking southern right whales, humpback whales, orcas and dolphins along Australia's east coast. Jodi's project draws on stories and knowledge from the world's oldest living culture to better safeguard our incredible ocean environment. In 2022, Jodi was named Shellharbour Woman of the Year and Illawarra Regional NAIDOC Aboriginal Community Person of the Year for her enormous contribution to many organisations and initiatives within our community, and in 2023 she was nominated for the NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year award.

Dr Jodi Edwards has made an absolutely extraordinary contribution to our community, and in large part this contribution has been made possible because Jodi was able to access an education. But her path was not easy. We want to make pathways for people like Jodi easier so that every Australian gets a chance to give back to the community, to achieve their potential and to be a leader in our community, just like Jodi is.

I'm proud to say that I come from a family of public school teachers. My father, aunty, sister and husband are all public school teachers, and I'm proud to have been educated in public schools. I'm very passionate about public education because, without it, I wouldn't be where I am today. My mother was raised in housing commission in Dundas Valley near Parramatta in Sydney's western suburbs. I come from humble beginnings, but, thanks to our public education system, I got an education. My parents were determined that my sisters and I would go to university. When I started law school at the University of Wollongong in the mid-nineties, all I had was a dream that my parents fostered—that there was no reason I could not achieve whatever I longed for. I was proud to become a lawyer and to work as a public interest and human rights lawyer for the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. I've had so many opportunities to give back to the community working in the not-for-profit sector and for government. Here I am, 30 years later, after starting my studies at the University of Wollongong, in federal parliament. I'm very grateful for the education I've received, first at Hazelbrook Public School, then at Springwood High School and then at the University of Wollongong.

Part of what drives me is the inherent knowledge that there are talented people everywhere in our community. Your postcode does not dictate your ability to contribute and give back. As a Labor government, we know this to be a fact, and we want to ensure that every child and that every adult has an opportunity to get an education, to thrive and to reach their potential. I'm a passionate advocate for public education because it safeguards Australia's great tradition of fairness and equal opportunity and because I understand that education is critical to opening the doors of opportunity for every Australian. I am proud that, earlier this year, the Albanese Labor government reached agreements with every state and territory to put all public schools in Australia on a path to full and fair funding. This means that about $20 billion in additional Commonwealth funding will be invested in public schools across the country over the next 10 years. This represents the biggest new investment in public schools by an Australian government.

This bill focuses on tertiary education and will open the doors of opportunity for many thousands of Australians who might not otherwise have had the opportunity to study at university. Young people who grow up in families with less money or outside our big cities are less likely to have the opportunity to study at university than other Australians, and, if they start a university degree, they are less likely to finish it. The data indicates that they are up to twice as likely to drop out after their first year at university than other students. The Albanese Labor government wants to change this.

The genesis of this reform can be traced to the Australian Universities Accord, which was established by this government in November 2022. The accord was led by a panel of eminent Australians, and its objective was to devise recommendations and performance targets to improve the quality, accessibility, affordability and sustainability of higher education in Australia in order to achieve long-term security and prosperity for the sector and the nation. The Minister for Education asked the universities accord to look at seven priority areas: Australia's knowledge and skills needs, now and in the future; access and opportunity; investment and affordability in higher education; governance, accountability and community; connections between the vocational education and training and higher education systems; the sustainability and quality of higher education; and new knowledge, innovation and capability for Australia. The accord released its final report in February 2024, and it provides a valuable blueprint for higher education reform over the next two decades.

A key recommendation is that Australia needs to increase the number of people in the workforce with a certificate, diploma or degree. When the final report was released two years ago, 60 per cent of working Australians had a certificate, a diploma or a degree. The accord reported that this needs to increase by about 80 per cent by 2050, which is a significant jump. To achieve this target to deliver on Australia's future skills needs, we need to take action now. The universities accord recommended adopting a new funding model for higher education that is planned and managed by the Australian Tertiary Education Commission. It also recommended increasing the number of higher education students from underrepresented backgrounds, matched by a focus on success for these students. The universities accord found that 69 per cent of young Australians from wealthy families had a university degree, compared with only 19 per cent from less wealthy families. The Albanese government has responded to the Universities Accord by making a substantial financial commitment. That commitment is an additional $3.6 billion in funding for Australia's higher education system over the next decade. This investment will increase the number of students at university and help to meet Australia's future skills needs.

This bill enacts our commitment through a new funding system. It amends five pieces of legislation to do three core things. First, it embeds the new system to support growth in domestic students, including those from low socioeconomic and regional and remote backgrounds. Secondly, it establishes mechanisms to support students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, First Nations students and students studying at regional campuses. And thirdly, it formalises the role of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission in allocating Commonwealth supported places. Our reforms are expected to result in an extra 230,000 domestic students commencing at university over the next decade. There will be an additional 16,000 places for students in the system each year for the next three years, and this increases to 19,000 additional places each year from 2030. Our new system will effectively uncap the number of places for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and from regional areas.

We'll also provide that extra funding to support students who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, First Nations students and students studying at regional campuses, and that support will go a long way. This approach is similar to the Gonski model for school funding, which provides schools with extra funding based on where they are located and the needs of the students they educate. The needs based funding will provide universities with additional resources for tutoring, mentoring, academic assistance, scholarships and emergency financial support for these students.

I am proud of the steps that Labor has taken to try and make universities and further study more accessible and affordable for students from all walks of life. We've taken a range of measures which have been outlined in the accord. For example, Labor has cut 20 per cent of HECS debts. We introduced paid prac for the first time, which provides financial support for eligible teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students when they do their practical training. We've increased the number of free university bridging courses, which are an important link between school and university. We've introduced the National Student Ombudsman and a national code to prevent and respond to gender based violence. We've made demand-driven Commonwealth supported places available to all First Nations students where they get the marks to get in. Previously, this was only available for Indigenous students living in regional and remote Australia. The Department of Education estimates that over the next decade, this initiative could double the number of Indigenous students at university.

We need to take action now to help set our tertiary education system up to deliver on Australia's future skills needs. That means more people at TAFE and more people at university. The Albanese Labor government has implemented more than 30 of the accord's 47 recommendations in full or in part.

As I mentioned previously, these changes inject an additional $3.6 billion in Australia's higher education system over the next decade to increase the number of students at university and to meet Australia's future skills needs. This bill enacts that commitment through a new funding system. The new system will address existing issues in the higher education funding system and will better align Commonwealth funding with enrolments. Importantly, higher education providers will be supported to transition to the new funding system. Under this new needs based funding system, the amount of funding per student will more than double next year in some cases. Universities will be able to put this extra funding towards things like: tutoring, mentoring and other academic supports; direct financial assistance like scholarships and grants; and offsetting the higher costs of campuses in regional and remote areas.

I am pleased these that reforms will mean that more local kids from my electorate of Whitlam will get a chance to go to university, people like Jodi, and they'll get the supports they'll need to stay there. They'll then give back enormously to our community through the professions of their choice. I am proud of the Albanese Labor government's commitment to education at all levels, and I commend this bill to the House.

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