Gabriel Ng (Menzies, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

One of our core beliefs as Australians is in a fair go for all. At the heart of a fair go for all is equality of opportunity, and at the heart of equality of opportunity is education. My mum was the first in her family to go to university. She grew up in different parts of Melbourne and regional Australia, even living on Gabo Island for a while when her dad was a lighthouse keeper. It's in the far north of Victoria. She told stories about sharks circling the jetty and penguins under her bed. If that's not regional and remote Australia, I don't know where is. She also worked as a hospital worker while she was studying a law degree. She was pregnant with my sister, and then, when she did her master's degree, she brought me to lectures as a baby. Eventually, she became a lawyer. That was possible because of a system that opened doors for her.

The community of Menzies, who I'm proud to represent, understand this instinctively. Places like Doncaster, Box Hill, Warrandyte, Templestowe, Park Orchards and Balwyn North are communities built by people who believe that, if you work hard and play by the rules, the system gives you a fair shot. They are people like my dad, who migrated to Australia from Singapore with nothing, and my mum, who studied while she worked as a hospital worker. They are people who sacrificed to give their children opportunities that they never had themselves. That is the lived experience of thousands of families across my community, and it is a story that the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026 is writing for the next generation.

That story did not write itself. It was built by Labor governments over decades. It was Gough Whitlam who made university free, abolishing tuition fees and opening the doors of higher education to a generation of Australians who never imagined it possible—the children of factory workers, nurses, tradespeople and families who had never had anyone go to university before. It was Bob Hawke and Paul Keating who built HECS, a system that allowed students to access university without paying upfront, repaying their debt only once they were earning enough to do so. It was the Gillard government who commissioned the Gonski review and began the work of needs based school funding, the principle being that resources flowing to a school should reflect the needs of the students in it, not the postcode they happen to live in. Now, it is the Albanese Labor government continuing that work, fully and fairly funding every public school and delivering the biggest new investment in public education in Australia's history. With this bill, the government is extending the same principle—that access to higher education should be determined by capability and effort, not by background or postcode or the size of a family's bank account—into the tertiary education system. Every major advance in Australian education has been driven by Labor, and the bill continues this.

Not long ago, I had the privilege of visiting La Trobe University's SOLAR Lab, along with the Minister for Education, Jason Clare; Assistant Minister Ged Kearney; the then deputy premier and now premier, Ben Carroll; and the member for Bundoora, Colin Brooks. SOLAR stands for Science of Language and Reading. This lab gives researchers and teaching students the chance to observe and apply the very latest in educational innovation—the cutting-edge techniques about how children actually learn. We had the opportunity to watch one of the outstanding teachers from Templestowe Heights applying these techniques in practice.

But the real stars that day were not the researchers or the academics; they were the students from Templestowe Heights Primary School, from my community of Menzies, who were sitting there reading passages aloud from Hatchet, a book old enough that I also studied it at school. The principal, Rhys Coulson, and the teachers at Templestowe Heights are part of a national movement of educators who understand that how we teach matters just as much as what we teach. That visit demonstrated the opportunities that university can provide to individuals and to the country to train people up for some of the most important jobs in the world, such as teachers, and it showed how this investment can pay dividends for future generations. That is what this bill is about.

Over the next few decades, Australia will need around 80 per cent of its workforce to hold a certificate, diploma or degree. That reflects the transformation already underway in how we work, how we build and how we compete. The Australian Universities Accord is a blueprint for higher education reform over the next decade and beyond. This Albanese Labor government has already implemented more than 30 of its 47 recommendations. We doubled the number of university study hubs in regional and suburban areas. We introduced the National Student Ombudsman. We established the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, providing genuine stewardship for the tertiary sector. We've also cut HECS debts by 20 per cent. We introduced paid placements for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students, and recently the Albanese Labor government expanded paid prac to 10 more health and allied health professions.

Recently, with the Deputy Prime Minister, I had the pleasure of visiting Box Hill Hospital in my community, and there we met a number of students who are undertaking their placements. There were nursing students who would soon be able to benefit from paid prac. We also met a number of OT and physiotherapy students, who were very happy to hear about the government's announcement of paid prac, although, since they were doing their placements then, they weren't able to take advantage of it. You could see that they were juggling their part-time jobs as well as working full time to get that practical experience they needed to develop the skills to practice their profession. They also had to work as footy coaches or work in Big W at the same time, in order to get the accreditation they needed. Paid prac will mean that they'll be able to focus on their studies and get their qualifications without the stress of also having to work part-time jobs to pay their rent and pay their bills.

This bill delivers the next step. At its core, this legislation builds a new funding architecture for Australian higher education, one that is designed to grow the system, support those students who have historically been left behind and align Commonwealth investment with where it is needed most. The bill establishes a new managed-growth funding system. In practical terms, it effectively uncaps university places for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and from regional areas. Universities will be funded in proportion to the students they enrol and support. The more students a provider takes from a disadvantaged background, the more funding they will receive to help those students succeed. This is the same logic that underpins the Gonski funding for schools, and it works.

The legislation also introduces needs based funding. This is direct, targeted support for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, First Nations students and those studying at regional campuses. The base equity amount is set at over $1,500 per student, and the base regional amount is around $1,400. That is more than double what was provided under similar previous programs, which in some cases was as little as $600 per student. Universities will be able to put that funding towards tutoring, mentoring, academic support, scholarships and offsetting the higher costs that come with regional campuses. These changes inject $3.6 billion into Australia's higher education system over the next decade. They are expected to result in an additional 230,000 commencing domestic students at universities across that period. That is 230,000 people whose path to a degree and the opportunities that come with it become possible because of this legislation.

Let us be clear about what those opposite have delivered when it comes to higher education. They cut university funding, they deregulated fees and they tried to drive up the cost of a degree. They allowed HECS debts to spiral, with indexation eating into balances faster than graduates and students could repay them. They underfunded the sector and stepped back from the role government has to play in ensuring Australia's skill base matches our economic needs. The result was a system that worked well for those who were already advantaged and left too many others behind.

This government has reversed that direction step by step. We cut 20 per cent from HECS debts. We changed the way debts are indexed so that it is the lower of either CPI or wage growth, restoring hope to students that they'll be able to pay off their student debt. We introduce paid placements so that student nurses, teachers, social workers, midwives and, more recently, pharmacists, OTs and physiotherapists are not forced to choose between their studies and paying rent. We established the ATEC so that tertiary education has genuine long-term stewardship and is not left to drift from one political cycle to the next. Now we are rebuilding the funding foundations.

Evidence based teaching is not just a phrase. At Templestowe Heights, it is the difference between a child who learns to read with confidence and one who falls further behind. Our broader school funding reforms are part of that same agenda: full and fair funding for every public school; billions of dollars in new investment, tied not to blind spending but to evidence about what actually improves education outcomes; phonics checks and numeracy checks to identify the children who need extra help; and small-group tutoring to give those children the support they deserve. This is the biggest new investment by an Australian government in public education. This bill extends that same logic upwards into the tertiary education system because the question is not simply whether a child learns to read in year 1; it is whether that child, 20 years later, can access the qualification they need to participate fully in the economy that we're building and to participate fully in the civic life that we all contribute to.

Menzies is one of the most sought-after places to live in Melbourne's east for a simple reason: families move to our area due to our outstanding schools. People really value education in our community. They move to places like Surrey Hills, Mont Albert, Doncaster, Doncaster East, Box Hill and Blackburn because they know their children will get an outstanding education. They plan their lives around school zones. They make financial sacrifices to get into those catchments. They make their single biggest investment—buying a home—based on which schools are within walking distance. That reflects decades of a community committed to education. It also reflects strong principals, dedicated teachers, parents who are involved and engaged, and a culture that takes learning seriously.

Menzies has some of the best schools in Victoria. Our public schools consistently perform at the highest levels. Our school communities are tight knit, diverse and ambitious for their children. What families in Menzies understand is that a great school is not just about the building; it's the foundation of a child's future. It shapes what is possible, and it determines what doors open for them later in life. That is exactly what this bill is about.

This bill matters because the decisions we make about education are decisions about what kind of country we want to be. Do we want to be a country that reserves opportunity for those born into it or a country that ensures equality of opportunity for everyone, regardless of their background, where they're from or what language they speak at home? Do we want to be country that talks about skills shortages while doing nothing to address the structural barriers keeping capable people out of university or a country that invests, plans and builds a tertiary education system that can actually deliver the workforce our future requires?

This government has made its choice, with 230,000 more students at university, needs based funding for those who need it most, a managed system built for the long term and a funding model that rewards universities for doing the hard work of genuine inclusion. Labor is the party that has opened the doors of Australian opportunity in our country and in education. This bill opens them wider. It opens them wider for students from regional areas and from disadvantaged backgrounds, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and for people like my mum, who will be the first in their family to go to university. I commend this bill to the House.

Leon Rebello (McPherson, Liberal National Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026. I'll just say at the outset that the coalition hasn't finalised its position on the bill. We will refer this to a Senate committee for inquiry and report because, ultimately, we believe in evidence, and the evidence that comes through that committee will be vital for us in determining our final position. This bill takes a lot of focus because it makes significant structural changes to the higher education system.

I associate myself with some of the previous comments. Universities in this country matter. They matter not only in terms of the country we want to be but in terms of the calibre of our next generation. It's something that we can't discuss lightly. It's something that is very important to who we are as a country, and it will be very crucial to the country that we end up becoming over the years to come.

I think of the opportunities I received from the universities that I attended and the incredible support that they provided me. They were very much a foundation to my career and to the life that I set up. I had the opportunity to go to the Australian National University, here in the ACT, but I also had the opportunity to participate in international education overseas. I studied at universities in both China and the Netherlands. So I was able to get a more holistic and international insight into tertiary education, which gave me a view of what we do well but also of the areas that we need to do better in.

What we are seeing at the moment with our universities in Australia is very concerning. We're seeing under Labor that universities have become measurably worse. There are a few different categories that I think of when I make that statement. I look at research funding, I look at the culture that we've seen on university campuses and how that's changed in particular over the last couple of years and I look at overregulation. I represent the southern Gold Coast, and people on the southern Gold Coast are so fortunate to have two fantastic universities. We have Southern Cross University with the Coolangatta campus and we have Bond University, which is based at Varsity Lakes. They're both universities that I have had significant dealings with, not only during my time as the member for McPherson but also prior to that. They both provide education to the next generation of Australians that is not only practical but also relevant to where we live, not only on the Gold Coast but within the context of our broader Indo-Pacific region.

When I speak to the vice-chancellors of those universities, when I speak to the teaching staff and when I speak to the students, I hear, unfortunately, this view that it is becoming too difficult to run universities. It's becoming too difficult to compete with all of the regulations that government is imposing on them. That seems to be the common thread that I get when I ask for feedback amongst my universities. We're seeing the consequences of these challenges. We've seen domestic enrolments falling. I note that in 2022 there were 1.103 million domestic students at university, whereas, according to the most recent data, we've seen numbers fall since Labor came to office. In fact, we're at the lowest number since 2019.

Now, I respect that there is a role for us to educate international students. We not only get a financial benefit from doing so; we also get a long-term soft-power benefit. I've had the opportunity to speak to people who have come to this country and studied here and then gone overseas and become very senior in their fields, often in politics. They have a very different view of us as a country because of their experiences here. There is no doubt that that is important. But, if you ask me, when we're seeing domestic enrolments falling, Australian universities at their core should be focused on ensuring that we educate the next generation of Australians. On the current statistics, on the current numbers, we're not seeing that to be the case, at least to the extent that we would like to see it.

The second point I was making, in relation to overregulation—and this is the point that my universities on the Gold Coast have raised with me consistently—is that, according to the Department of Education, since 2022 the ratio of students to teaching staff has increased, and get this: the numbers of administrative, technical and operating staff are growing twice as fast as for teaching and research staff. That's the feedback that I also get. And the feedback more specifically from the universities has been that they're having to bring on extra staff to deal with the incredible obligations put on them by government.

From an ideological perspective, I've always been of the view that when government gets involved—whether it's in business, whether it's in the private sector or whether it's in universities—it doesn't always end well. There's sometimes a role for them to be involved, and there certainly is when it comes to universities. When universities are subject to TEQSA, to ATEC, to the new gender based violence commissioner and to the Ombudsman, they're not telling me that they're against what these people are asking them to do, that they're against adhering to certain standards. But they are saying that government should perhaps look at the consequences and the costs of implementation and the fact that universities, especially smaller universities, are having to bear those costs and having to adjust their teaching staff in favour of administrative staff and regulatory staff. At the end of the day, there is one cohort that misses out when universities have to do that, and that is the students, and the students should always be the focus and at the core of what we do when it comes to the education space.

I made reference to the changing culture on campus at universities. Over the last few years, what we've seen in Australia is very unrecognisable to me, as somebody who went through our tertiary education system not that long ago, quite frankly—about eight years ago. We see spectacle after spectacle, week after week, of encampments on university campuses in this country preaching hate not only against the country, which is bad enough in and of itself, but also against specific minority groups and particularly against the Jewish population in this country. I think it has been quite concerning to see that happening at places that should be beacons of thought and opportunities for debate. We've seen this across the country, and it's been reflected in data that's been acquired through the Racism@Uni survey, which found extraordinary levels of this sort of abuse, particularly against Jewish students and other groups.

When we have situations where our education system is handbraked by regulation or is handbraked by the decisions of this place, it results in consequences for our education rankings and our standards not only in Australia but around the world. We saw that when more than half of Australia's universities dropped in world rankings in June this year. Just to put some numbers to what I was saying about the regulation—I mentioned TEQSA and a few of the different regulatory bodies. TEQSA itself, I understand, lodged a submission recently which said that there are now at least 15 different regulators and oversight bodies that universities report to. As a member of the Australian public, as somebody who is probably going to be the beneficiary of the intellect of students at universities now at some point in the future, I do not want our educators or our universities to find themselves tied up dealing with these 15 different regulators and oversight bodies as well as the more than 300 pieces of legislation and regulation that they're required to adhere to and comply with.

So I say to this place—again, reserving the coalition's right to make a decision on this bill—that these are the sorts of highly pressing issues that need to be addressed, and I don't get the impression that those opposite are actually addressing these issues. This is the direct feedback that I've received, as the federal member for McPherson, from the universities that I represent. I also recently acquired the role of co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of International Students group. I had the opportunity only last week to meet with university representatives from around the country, and this was also a great part of the feedback we received. They feel very much handbraked by the regulation that's imposed by this place. As far as I can see in this legislation, in this universities accord bill, there's very little effort going to address those concerns and those issues, and that's something that we need to have a real conversation about.

I've been listening to some of the contributions from those opposite, and I think there's a mismatch between what the bill is actually about and what members opposite are saying the bill will do. Labor seems to be pretending that the bill is about funding student places and about increasing university funding for specific groups, such as Indigenous Australians, people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and people from rural and regional areas. But it's not actually right. You'll see it's not accurate when you read the content of the bill. You don't need this bill to do any of those things.

What the bill actually does is it centralises a significant amount of power over universities and higher education providers in the hands of the relevant minister. It moves our higher education system towards a centrally managed model. This means, practically, that the ministers and/or the minister and future ministers as well would gain extensive powers over domestic Commonwealth supported places, international student allocations, demand driven higher education course places, conditions imposed on providers, needs based funding, and priorities and directions given to ATEC. There's a good thing about this. It means that the powers could be used by a future government to address some serious policy problems or concerns. But, on the flip side, we have some concerns about competition, the autonomy of institutions, efficiency, parliamentary oversight and ministerial discretion. That's the essence of this bill.

So the four main concerns that I have centre, firstly, around competition. The bill is not based on competition, deregulation or institutional autonomy. It's based on central allocation and ministerial control. As such, the bill treats competition between universities as a problem. I don't associate myself with that view, because, at the end of the day, competition will benefit consumers. When it comes to competition between universities, that competition benefits the students themselves because it incentivises different universities, whether in my electorate or elsewhere, to compete on quality, on student experience, on career outcomes, on academic reputation and on course offerings.

There are a few parts of this bill that raise concerns, and I hope that a Senate inquiry will enable those concerns to be fleshed out more thoroughly. But, at the end of the day, it is important we're having this conversation. Australians and most people in this place—not everybody, and that's fine too; not everyone needs to go through university, and, in fact, we have a great deal of need outside the tertiary education system at the moment as well—will remember and recognise the influence that universities have had on their careers, their lives and the broader lives and experiences of Australians. It's important we get this right, actually listen to what the sector is telling us and don't just impose what we think the sector wants us to impose. The message that I've received from my constituents and from my universities is very clear: we're making it too difficult for them to do teaching and educate the next generation. And, when the focus is diverted away from that, we have a serious problem.

Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

These reforms reflect a simple belief, held by Labor governments for generations, that education should expand opportunity, not entrench disadvantage. From opening the doors to higher education under Hawke and Keating to the reforms that we are delivering today, Labor has always understood that investing in education is investing in Australia's future.

Bonner is home to almost 50 schools, and I've made it my mission to visit each and every one of them. You'll be pleased to know, Deputy Speaker, I am almost there—only a couple to go. From Bonner's largest school, at 4,000 students, Mansfield State High School—also the largest school in Australia—to my smallest school, at 45 students, Sinai College, I've met young people right across our community who are already thinking about what comes next after the school gates. I've met with budding investors at St Agnes Catholic Primary School. I've also had them visit parliament this week, and we've celebrated academic achievement across many schools, including last week at Holland Park State High School. We've seen firsthand the different ways our local schools are preparing young people for their futures. For many of those students, the next step will be university, and I want every young person that I meet in Bonner to know that, if they have the ability and ambition, opportunity is there for them, regardless of their postcode or their parents' income.

That is what the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026 is all about. Education has always been one of the great engines of opportunity in this country. It changes lives, it strengthens communities, and it builds the skilled workforce that we need here in our country. But opportunity only works if the doors are actually open, and that is exactly what this legislation does. This bill is a major step in implementing the Universities Accord, the most significant review of higher education in a generation. Released in 2024, the accord sets out a blueprint for Australia's tertiary education system over the next decade and beyond. It recognises a simple reality: Australia's future workforce will need more skills than ever before, and our education system must be ready to meet that challenge.

This government doesn't just announce reform; we actually deliver it, and the Albanese Labor government has already implemented more than 30 of the accord's 47 recommendations in full or part. We have made HECS fairer, cutting 20 per cent off student debts, capping indexation, moving to a fairer repayment system and raising the minimum repayment threshold. In my electorate of Bonner, over 20,000 people have already had their student debt cut. We've introduced paid prac for the very first time for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students, and now we've expanded it to 10 more frontline health professions, so more students don't have to choose between completing their studies and paying the rent. We've doubled the number of university study hubs, establishing 20 new Regional University Study Hubs and 14 Suburban University Study Hubs, so students don't have to leave their community to get a start on a degree.

We've increased free university bridging courses. We've introduced the National Student Ombudsman and a national code to prevent and respond to gender based violence on campus. We made demand-driven, Commonwealth supported places available to every First Nation student who earns the marks to get in, and we established the Australian Tertiary Education Commission as steward of the system. This bill is the next step.

Australia is changing. The jobs of the future will demand new skills, new knowledge and new ways of thinking. Almost 9,000 people in my electorate are currently studying at university or in higher education. They are preparing to become the nurses, teachers, engineers, researchers and professionals our communities will rely on in the years ahead. This bill is about making sure more Australians have that same opportunity.

This legislation is the most significant reform to higher education funding in a generation. It represents an additional $3.6 billion investment in Australia's higher education system over the next decade, supporting around 230,000 additional domestic students to commence university. Importantly, the new managed growth funding system will effectively uncap Commonwealth supported places for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and regional Australia, helping ensure talented Australians are not held back by where they live or the circumstances they were born into. On a personal note, as someone who is from regional Queensland and the first in their family to go to university, I know how important that is.

For too long, universities have been expected to educate more Australians without the certainty that funding would keep pace with demand. That uncertainty makes it harder for universities to plan, invest and create the places students need. This legislation will address this by establishing a managed growth funding system that will support a bigger, better and fairer university sector. Over the next three years it will fund an additional 16,000 Commonwealth supported places each year. From 2030 that will increase to 19,000 additional places annually. Over the next decade around 230,000 more students are expected to commence university. Importantly, this growth will not be left to chance.

In Bonner, more than 45,000 families call our community home. As our electorate continues to grow, so too will the number of young people looking to take the next step into higher education. Planning for that demand now means more Australians will have the opportunity to pursue a university education in the years ahead.

The Australian Tertiary Education Commission will work with universities to allocate Commonwealth supported places where they are needed most, while ensuring universities have that certainty to plan for the future. It will also have the flexibility to allocate places for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and regional and remote communities, helping ensure opportunity reaches those who are too often missing. When a capable student earns their place, the availability of a university position should not be the barrier that stands in their way.

We know that opening the door to university is only part of the story. We also need to make sure that students have the support they need once they walk through that door to stay the course and graduate. Not every student starts from the same place, and their circumstances do not diminish their talent or their potential. Evidence tells us that students from a lower socioeconomic background and students from regional and remote Australia are not just less likely to start a university degree, they are also less likely to finish one. In fact, the data shows that they are twice as likely to drop out after their first year of university than other students.

That is why this bill introduces needs based funding. Just as the Gonski reforms recognised that schools needed additional support to help students facing disadvantage, this bill applies the same principle to higher education. Universities will receive additional funding for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, for First Nations students and students studying at regional campuses.

Under the previous arrangements, universities sometimes received as little as around $600 per eligible student. Under this legislation, the base equity amount will be over $1,500 per student and the regional amount over $1,300. In many cases, that is more than double the previous levels of support. That funding can be used for tutoring, mentoring, academic assistance, scholarship and emergency financial support. This reform is demand driven, meaning that, the more eligible students a university supports, the more funding it will receive. Opportunity is not just about getting a place at university; it is about making sure that every student has the support that they need to succeed once they get there. That is how we build a fairer education system and a stronger Australia.

This bill also strengthens the way international student numbers are managed. International education is one of Australia's greatest success stories. It enriches our campuses, strengthens research and innovation, supports thousands of jobs and makes a significant contribution to our economy. But growth needs to be well managed and well planned. This bill provides a clear framework for ATEC to independently allocate international student places, with the overall cap set by the minister in consultation with universities. It allows the commission to consider priorities such as student housing and market diversification, giving universities greater certainty while supporting sustainable growth.

The bill also makes technical amendments to improve information-sharing between agencies and ensure each body can carry out their roles effectively. This is sensible reform. It gives universities greater certainty, strengthens independent decision-making and helps make sure international education keeps growing in a way that's sustainable and serves the long-term interests of students, universities and the wider community.

This bill is not isolated reform. The Albanese Labor government has made education a priority. We have delivered the three-day guarantee so more children can access early education. We have delivered record funding for public schools, tied to meaningful reforms that help students catch up, keep up and finish school. And we have delivered a cut of 20 per cent to student debt and introduced paid prac. Each of these reforms has the same purpose: to remove barriers and create opportunity. Labor will always ensure that where someone starts in life does not determine where they can finish or what they can achieve.

Education is one of the greatest investments any government can make. In Bonner in my community, education is something more and it's also something that our community values. Almost one in three people in our electorate already hold a bachelor's degree. That reflects a community that understands the opportunities education creates. This bill is about ensuring those same opportunities remain within reach for the next generation.

This bill is about ensuring that talent is never held back by disadvantage. It's about a young person's future being determined by their ability and hard work, not their postcode or family circumstances. This is another important step towards a fairer higher education system, because talent has never been a problem in our country, but opportunity has. I commend the bill to the House.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I understand that the member for Pearce would like to present a copy of their speech for incorporation into Hansard, in accordance with the resolution agreed to on 6 November 2025.

Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you.

The incorporated speech read as follows—

I would like to support the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026 and to speak about why this reform matters so much to communities like mine in Pearce. At its core, this bill is about fairness, but, more than that, it is about whether we genuinely believe that every young Australian should have the same chance to succeed regardless of where they grow up or what their family circumstances are.

While we often say that, in Australia, anyone can get ahead, we know that isn't always how it plays out in practice. We know that talent is spread right across this country but opportunity is not, and that gap is not abstract. It is real and it shows up in very practical ways in people's lives. It shows up in whether a young person sees university as something that is within reach or something that is simply not for people like them. It shows up in whether families feel confident navigating the system or whether it feels confusing and out of step with their experience. And it shows up in the numbers—who gets to university and, just as importantly, who stays and finishes.

In outer metropolitan communities like Pearce, I see this every week. I meet young people who are capable, motivated and full of potential but who are weighing up decisions that go far beyond study. They are thinking about how they will afford rent, how many hours they will need to work, whether they can manage the cost of transport or whether they should put their plans on hold to support their family. For many, they are the first in their family to consider university at all. That is something to be proud of. But it can also mean stepping into a system without a clear map, and, even when they do take that step, too many find that the hardest part is not getting in. It is staying in. That is why this bill matters. It recognises that opening the door is only the beginning. What matters just as much is whether people are supported once they walk through it.

This legislation builds on the Australian Universities Accord, which was released in February 2024. That accord is a blueprint for higher education reform not only for the next decade but for the decade after that. It tells us something very important: if Australia wants to meet the skill demands of the future, we need to lift the proportion of people in the workforce with a certificate, diploma or degree to around 80 per cent over the coming decades. That means more people at TAFE. It means more people at university. And it means acting now to set our tertiary system up for the future.

The Albanese Labor government has already implemented more than 30 of the accord's 47 recommendations in full or in part. That includes making HECS fairer by cutting 20 per cent of HECS debts, capping indexation at the lower of CPI and WPI, moving to a marginal repayment system and raising the minimum repayment threshold. It includes introducing paid prac for the first time for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students. It includes doubling the number of university study hubs by establishing 20 new regional university study hubs and 14 suburban university study hubs. It includes increasing the number of free university bridging courses. It includes introducing the National Student Ombudsman and the National Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence. It includes making demand driven Commonwealth supported places available to all First Nations students where they meet the marks to get in. And it includes establishing the Australian Tertiary Education Commission as a steward of the tertiary education system.

This bill is the next step in that reform agenda. It enacts the accord's commitment through a new funding system built around a managed growth funding system and demand driven, needs based funding. It is designed to do two things at once: grow the system to meet national demand, and better support the students who have historically been left behind. On the first challenge—access—this bill introduces a new way of funding growth in higher education. The Universities Accord was clear that higher education funding should be planned and managed by the ATEC through mission based compacts. It was also clear that we need to increase the number of higher education students from under-represented backgrounds, while also focusing on their success once they arrive. This bill responds to that. It will better align Commonwealth funding with enrolments, address existing issues in the funding system and help ensure the system grows in a way that reflects the needs of the country.

It will also formalise the role of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission in allocating Commonwealth supported places. That is important because it gives us a more coordinated and transparent approach to growth instead of a system where institutions are left to compete in ways that do not always serve students or the system as a whole. Most importantly, the new Managed Growth Funding System will effectively uncap the number of places for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and regional areas. That is a major change. It means that opportunity will not be artificially limited for students who have the ability and the determination to succeed but who may not have had the same starting point as others. It means that, if you come from a background where university has not always felt like a normal option, the system will now be better designed to include you.

It is expected to deliver around 230,000 commencing domestic students at university over the next decade. That is not just a statistic. That is 230,000 individual stories. 230,000 chances for people to build a future, contribute to their communities and gain the skills our country needs. For communities such as Pearce, that matters deeply. We are growing, we are diverse and we are full of people who want to contribute—young people who have ambition, families who want to see their children succeed, communities that are investing in their future. They are not asking for special treatment; they are asking for a fair chance, for a system that recognises their potential, supports their effort, and gives them a pathway forward.

But access is only half the story, because getting into university does not guarantee finishing it. We know that students from disadvantaged backgrounds are significantly more likely to drop out, often in their first year. Again, this is not because they lack ability. It is because they are often managing much more than study alone. They are balancing work and classes. They are supporting families. They are trying to cover costs that others may not even have to think about. Sometimes it is textbooks. Sometimes it is transport. Sometimes it is the need to take on extra shifts. Sometimes it is simply feeling out of place and not knowing where to turn for help. These are the quiet barriers that can make the difference between completing a degree and walking away from it.

That is why the demand driven, needs based funding in this bill is so important. It recognises that equity is not just about giving people a chance to start. It is about giving them a fair chance to finish. This funding will provide additional support to students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, First Nations students and students studying at regional campuses. Similar to Gonski funding for schools, the more students a university has who meet the criteria, the more funding it receives to help those students participate and succeed.

That support is practical and targeted. It can go towards tutoring for students who are struggling academically. It can go towards mentoring for those navigating an unfamiliar environment. It can support scholarships and grants. It can help universities offset the higher costs of campuses in regional and remote areas. And it can provide direct financial assistance when life throws up the unexpected.

The bill sets the base equity amount at $1,535 and the base regional amount at $1,398. That is more than double the average amount provided to universities per student last year under similar previous programs, which was as little as $600. That matters because it sends a very clear message: support is not an afterthought. It is part of the system. And the level of funding per student will more than double next year in some cases. That is significant. It is also necessary because, if we are serious about widening access, we must also be serious about keeping people on track once they get there.

This bill also strengthens the sustainability and integrity of the system itself. It provides a framework for the ATEC to exercise its existing function to allocate international student places where the Minister for Education makes an international allocation pool determination. That is a sensible and orderly approach and one that reflects the need for better planning and stewardship across the tertiary sector. It also makes small technical amendments to modernise information sharing between the Commonwealth Ombudsman, TEQSA and the ATEC so that those bodies can inform their work appropriately. These may sound like technical changes, but they are part of something larger. They help create a system that is more coordinated, more transparent and better able to respond to change.

This bill is not about one part of the system in isolation. It is about the whole picture. It is about access. It is about participation. It is about success. And it is about making sure our higher education system is built for the Australia we actually live in, not the Australia of decades past. If we believe in fairness, then opportunity must be genuinely accessible. If we believe in aspiration, then pathways must be open. And, if we believe in hard work, then effort should be rewarded with real opportunity. This bill moves us closer to that.

It does not solve every challenge in our education system, and we know there is more work ahead. But it is a meaningful and practical step. It invests in students, it invests in universities and, most importantly, it invests in the future of the country. It widens the door of opportunity—and, just as importantly, it helps ensure that, once people walk through that door, they have the support they need to keep going. That is how we build not just a better education system but a fairer country.

I commend the bill to the House.

Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Education is one of the great equalising forces in our society. It can be life's biggest game changer, the catalyst that changes the course of a person's life. It can open up opportunities that once seemed out of reach. It can give a young person the skills, confidence and qualifications to build a career, support their family and contribute to community. It can be the key to a new career when returning to work after starting a family. But, for this to be true, access to education cannot depend on your postcode, your parents' income or whether you happen to grow up in a major city. Access to quality higher education must instead be available to all, and that is the principle at the heart of this bill, the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026.

In simple terms, it's about backing in the young person who has the marks and ambition to go to university but wonders whether they can afford it. It is about the student from a regional community who has always dreamed of becoming a teacher, a nurse, an engineer or a lawyer but worries about having to move away from home; it is about the first person in a family, just like the member for Bonner, who just spoke, to go to university navigating a system that their parents may never have experienced themselves; and it is about making sure that, when those students get through the university door, they have the support to stay at university and finish their degree. That is why this bill is so important.

This bill builds a stronger, fairer system by creating a new managed-growth funding system for Commonwealth supported places. In practice, this means the government will set the total number of funded places and the Australian Tertiary Education Commission will allocate those places between universities, with additional places directed to areas of greatest need and demand. That means universities have greater certainty about their funded places while more opportunities can be directed to students from disadvantaged and regional backgrounds.

This is important because our nation already has more Australians studying at university than ever before, and that number is going to continue to grow. The Albanese government is backing in that growth. Next year, there will be an additional 16,000 funded Commonwealth supported places. There will be another 16,000 the year after that and another 16,000 the year after that. By 2030, there will be 19,000 additional fully-funded Commonwealth supported places. Across the next decade, the government expects to fund an additional 230,000 commencing students at university. That is a significant investment in the future of Australians, and the important point is this is not growth for growth's sake. The system is designed to make sure those opportunities reach Australians who have historically been less likely to access university—students like those in my electorate of Corangamite, a regional electorate.

The Australian Tertiary Education Commission will have responsibility for allocating Commonwealth supported places to universities and other eligible providers. Each university's allocation will include a core student load, providing stability, as well as an additional growth allocation. That additional growth allocation is where this reform can make a real difference. It gives the ATEC the ability to direct additional places to areas where they are most needed, including students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and students from regional and rural communities. That matters enormously. If ATEC determines that the total allocation pool is not sufficient to meet demand from students from disadvantaged backgrounds or regional and rural areas, it can ask the minister to increase that pool. In other words, we're building a system that can grow where the need is greatest. That is a very different approach to that of the former, coalition government, which did little to ensure equitable access to higher education.

The second major reform in this bill is needs based funding for universities. There is a very clear reason for this. We know that students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and students from regional or rural communities are less likely to commence a university degree. We also know they are less likely to complete one. The data shows that these students can be twice as likely to leave university after their first year. This is not because they are less capable; it is because the barriers they face can be greater. The bill provides additional funding for things like tutoring, mentoring and academic support, as well as direct financial assistance through scholarships and emergency grants. Importantly, this funding will be demand driven. It will target need.

That is a significant change. Under previous arrangements, programs such as the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program provided important support, but funding was capped. It should be noted that the more eligible students a university has, the more funding it will receive. Put simply, this means there is greater emphasis on attracting and keeping students who come from regional and remote areas. The more students there are at a regional campus, the more funding the university receives. The bill sets a base equity amount of $1,535 per eligible student and a base regional amount of $1,398 per regional student, with both amounts indexed each year. Under the previous HEPPP arrangements, the average amount provided last year to universities per student was around $600. Under this new needs based funding system it will be more than double. This means universities can use funding in a timely way that responds to the immediate needs of its students, so they are supported.

That is a substantial and meaningful investment. But what matters most is that that investment makes many things possible. It is especially important for regional universities and campuses. In my electorate of Corangamite, Deakin University is a major part of our community. Deakin plays an important role in opening the doors of higher education to students who may otherwise have found university much harder to access. Deakin provides opportunities for students to study close to home. It contributes significantly to the local economy. It supports local employers with highly skilled graduates. It conducts research that benefits our community and the broader region. And, importantly, it creates pathways for students from a wide range of backgrounds.

I work with Deakin and engage regularly with students, because I see the difference the right support can make. For a student, having access to university is important, particularly one close to home. Just as important is knowing there is somewhere and someone to turn to when things get difficult. We need universities to be places where students can succeed, not simply places where students can enrol. That is why the needs based funding component of this bill is so important. It recognises that universities that are serving communities that have greater need require the resources to respond to that need. This is the same basic principle that underpins needs based school funding. If we accept that schools should receive additional resources because of the circumstances of the students they educate, it makes sense to apply that same principle when thinking about higher education. This bill does exactly that.

The bill is also about preparing Australia for the future. The Universities Accord provides a long-term vision for our higher education system. By 2050 Australia will need a workforce in which about 80 per cent of people have a TAFE qualification or a university degree. This is a huge challenge, but it is also a huge opportunity. We must ensure that Australians from every part of our nation can participate and contribute to a changing workforce. That means expanding access to tertiary education. It means better harmonising VET, vocational education, and higher education. It means working closely with our universities. And it means backing in free TAFE. It also means ensuring that regional communities aren't left behind. So investing in higher education is not simply an investment in individual students. It is an investment in the strength and resilience of our communities.

This bill also gives the Australian Tertiary Education Commission the tools to manage the growth of the system. This matters, because we need a higher education system that is coordinated, nimble and sustainable. We need universities to have certainty about their funding. We need students to have access to places. And we need public investment to be directed where it can deliver the greatest benefit.

The bill also provides transitional arrangements for universities as the new system comes into effect. This is important. Reforms of this scale need to be implemented carefully, with universities given the stability they need to plan for the future.

There is a reason education features so prominently in the story of Labor governments. We understand that education can change the trajectory of a person's life. As a former teacher I've seen that many times. Education is the key, and I believe in it. We understand that a child who has the opportunity to learn can become an adult who has choices, and we understand that when we invest in people we strengthen our nation.

For my electorate, these reforms are real and practical. They mean more opportunities for young people who want to study. When I speak with many young people in my electorate I hear a consistent message. They do not expect everything to be handed to them. They want to work hard. They want to build a career. They want to contribute. The way we can deliver this is by removing the barriers and implementing reform that creates a fairer, more supportive and more accessible higher education system.

This bill is an investment in students, it's an investment in our universities, it's an investment in regional Australia and ultimately it's an investment in Australia's future. Talent is everywhere. Our job is to make sure opportunity is, too. I commend the bill to the House.

Alice Jordan-Baird (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

On this side of the House we believe something simple: no matter where in Australia you live or how much money your parents make, you deserve the same opportunities as your fellow Australians. This simple principle underpins the work of the Australian Labor Party and the changes that we in this government push for. It underpins a fair go for all Australians and it underpins this bill, which I am honoured to stand and speak on today. The name of the bill, the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026, reflects something the Prime Minister said on election night last year and which was repeated by the Minister for Education when he introduced the bill: that we are committed to opening the doors of opportunity for Australians a little bit wider.

In Australia right now, not everyone has the same access to higher education. Close to 50 per cent of Australians in their 30s have a university degree, but it's only about half that for those who grew up in a poor family or in the regions. It's even less in the bush. Young people who grow up outside our major cities or who are born into lower-income families are less likely to have the opportunity to go to uni and, if they do go, are less likely to finish their studies. That's not right, and that's the issue this bill is addressing.

But it's not new for the Albanese Labor government to make the right changes for a fairer education system. We've seen fairer access to education, with cheaper child care, the three-day childcare guarantee and the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, all while investing in the fantastic educators at these early learning centres, backing this incredible workforce all the way with a 15 per cent pay rise.

I have one of the youngest electorates in the country, and, with 10 babies born in the city of Melton every day, we're growing. So many centres are being built and opened in the western suburbs, and we're building even more of these through our $1 billion Building Early Education Fund, meaning more not-for-profit early learning centres in areas where families need them most, like Garrong Early Learning Victoria, which I was proud to open, alongside our Minister for Education and Minister for Early Childhood Education. And just a few weeks ago, alongside the Victorian government, I announced a new early learning centre in Rockbank. This will be co-located with a brand new school that will open at the same time in 2028. When I had a look at the site a few weeks ago it was just an empty field, and I'm so excited to see construction kick off in coming months.

Access to education starts early, and early childhood education sets up a child's education journey throughout their life. It's why projects like this are so incredibly important. No matter where in Australia you were born, you deserve fair access to education throughout your entire education journey. I'd like to commend the Victorian Labor government for working with our educators, who support our kids every day, to deliver a significant pay rise and better working conditions, which the AEU voted in favour of on Monday.

Through the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, we've now struck some really important agreements with every state and territory across this country to fix this funding problem. Twenty billion dollars will go to our public schools across the country over the next 10 years. This will see the Commonwealth increase its contribution to the schooling resource standard, putting every public school on a path to receive full funding.

There will be an extra $3.5 billion for Victorian public schools over the next 10 years. It will be tied to real reforms—the sorts of reforms we need in our schools to help more kids who fall behind catch up and keep up and to help more kids finish secondary school. That's what we need, because, in the years ahead, more jobs are going to require young people to finish high school and then go on to university or TAFE. This bill is making sure the next step to university is within reach for young Australians.

What's significant about this bill is that we're making some important changes to the way our higher education system is funded and managed. The number of students going to university is growing, and we need to address the challenges that can come with that. So we're creating a new managed growth funding system, and we're giving the Australian Tertiary Education Commission the tools to manage that growth. The minister will set the total pool of Commonwealth supported places, and ATEC will then allocate those places to universities and other eligible providers. Each university will receive a core allocation. This will help make sure universities don't go backwards and will help make sure they can receive additional places through a growth allocation.

The ATEC can use this growth allocation to put places, including those for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and from regional and remote areas, where they are most needed, meaning the system can better respond to demand from these students. Where demand from these groups is greater than the number of available places, ATEC can ask the minister to increase the total allocation pool.

We're basically setting up the system to allow growth to meet demand from students who have traditionally been underrepresented at uni. In outer suburban Melbourne—for example, in our western suburbs—sure, university is technically an option. But it isn't always accessible. Whether it's the financial demands a household faces or even the commute to get to uni, these barriers can prevent young Australians from pursuing and finishing their degrees. That's why this bill also introduces a new needs based funding system. This additional funding for university is based on the needs of their students. It will support students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and students studying at regional campuses. The more eligible students a university has, the more funding it will receive. This is different from previous programs where the funding was capped. The funding will be demand driven, and universities can use this funding for practical support like tutoring and mentoring, academic support, scholarships or emergency grants. It can also help universities meet the higher cost of operating regional and remote campuses.

We're also formalising ATEC's role in allocating Commonwealth supported places, giving one body responsibility for managing the growth of the system. We're also dealing with the matter of international student allocations. We will also continue to set a national planning level for international students. In this bill, there is no new statutory cap on international students. Instead, where the government sets a national planning level, the ATEC will allocate places between individual universities and other higher education providers. The minister can set the overall allocation pool and require ATEC to take certain government priorities into account, but the actual allocation of places between providers will be made by the ATEC.

Finally, the bill will make some technical changes to allow information to be shared between the ATEC, TEQSA and the Commonwealth Ombudsman. This will inform the work of these bodies and help them to carry out their functions.

In simple terms, we're changing how university places are allocated, how universities are funded for disadvantaged and regional students and how growth across the higher education system is managed. We're giving the ATEC the tools to manage that growth and directing more funding towards students and communities that have historically been less likely to access and complete university. We're opening the door of opportunity for future generations across Australia.

In my own community in Melbourne's west, I recently had the privilege of visiting Copperfield College in Sydenham, where I participated in the Be Bold Be Heard program alongside an inspiring panel of women from across my local community. Be Bold Be Heard is an outstanding leadership and advocacy initiative that empowers young women to become confident change-makers within their schools. At a recent visit to St Mary MacKillop Primary School, I spoke with the students in grade 5 about civics. At CRC North Keilor, I recently took part in their awards assembly, a moment for students' achievements to be recognised and preparing them to take their next steps through their education into work, TAFE or uni.

My local schools and the incredible work of their student cohorts are a reminder that talent is everywhere and hard work is everywhere. Where there is talent, drive and hard work, young Aussies should be supported to pursue their futures through higher education. Whatever suburb a young person grows up in or what their parents earn should not determine whether they get a crack at university. That is what this bill is about.

I meet young people in the community every day, and I'm always in awe of the passion and contributions they bring to our local communities. Just this week, we have had our local youth parliamentarian for Gorton, Gunmay. I'm so incredibly proud to have him here in Canberra. He's busy at Old Parliament House today debating intergenerational fairness, a real issue facing young people and one which is really well illustrated by the rising cost of university and the need for fair access to higher education. Gunmay, along with the cohort of young parliamentarians, has been discussing how the laws that we debate and pass here in parliament can last into the future. I trust that this bill serves as an example of one that has deep impacts for future generations, because education and fair access to education is truly life changing. Access to university creates real, lasting intergenerational change.

I recently visited the Marian Centre in Ravenhall and met an incredible group of young people, a number of them students in the allied health sector. These students have been completing their prac placements without any financial supports to account for the fact that their training prevents them from taking up an income. Paid pracs will change that. Prac payments are an education and training payment designed to give people a bit of extra help to get the qualifications they need and that we need to get more people working in the industries where we need them most. We've recently introduced paid pracs for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students. When unpaid hours spent working at mandatory practical placements are a barrier to young Aussies completing their education and when it's in those industries where we need a strong workforce, something needs to change to support these students. Paid prac is a natural choice because teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students deserve the right supports to complete their degrees and enter the workforce. This is increasing access to opportunities and having a real impact on people's lives and their futures as well.

Part of having accessible education means making sure student debt remains fair. This is not the first time I've spoken in this chamber about this, but it's worth repeating. The very first piece of legislation that passed this parliament was the wiping of every student debt by 20 per cent. This wiped $16 billion in student debt for over 3.2 million Australians, including 26,000 Australians in my electorate of Gorton, and made sure that student debt doesn't grow faster than wages. We have double the number of university study hubs in the regions and, for the first time, have established them in our outer suburbs to bring university closer to where people live. It's wonderful that we have one located at the Melton Library and Learning Hub, in my friend the member for Hawke's electorate. Nearly half of young Australians have a degree, but this is not the case in the western suburbs. The evidence shows that, where study hubs are, university participation goes up. This new study hub in Melton will give residents in my community from Thornhill Park and Fraser Rise the chance to study and grow closer to home.

Education is a pathway to opportunity, and the Albanese Labor government knows that opportunity should not be restricted by where you live or how much your parents earn. What should matter is your ability, your hard work and your determination. That is the principle that this bill is protecting, opening the doors of opportunity just a little bit wider so more young Aussies can get the education and build the future they deserve. I commend this bill to the House.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

It being almost 13.30, the debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour. The member doesn't require leave to continue, but, when the debate is resumed, we'll move to the next speaker.