Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026

Ms CAMPBELL (Moreton) (13:11): What if Australia's next groundbreaking scientist, next innovative engineer or next inspiring teacher never even considers going to university because no-one encouraged them to or there seemed to be too many barriers? That question becomes even more poignant when we think about people from disadvantaged backgrounds, lower socioeconomic backgrounds and First Nations communities and those living in regional areas.

For many of these young people, there is no clear pathway to university. For some, it seems out of reach because of financial pressure, and, for others, it's distance, or it can simply be a case of not having any role models from your community who have gone to uni, bringing to life that evocative phrase 'you can't be what you can't see'. It's not a lack of ability or talent holding people back; it's a lack of opportunity and it's a lack of support.

It is why the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026 is so very important. Labor has always been the party of education. It is part of our origin story, it is our legacy, and it is our future.

This bill is in direct response to the recommendations of the universities accord, which was released in February 2024. Since that time, the Albanese Labor government has been swift to implement its recommendations. So far, we've actioned more than 30 of the report's 47 recommendations.

A major focus of this reform was improving the operation of the Higher Education Contribution Scheme, or HECS. This included reducing existing student debt by 20 per cent, which we delivered as promised at the start of this term. We also ensured that indexation on HECS debts was capped to the lower of either the consumer price index or the wage price index.

We introduced a marginal repayment system and increased the minimum income threshold at which repayments begin. When you think about that 20 per cent off student debt, as students—thousands of them from my local electorate on Brisbane's south side—logged on and looked online, it came off immediately. Not only does this go to the cost-of-living relief that so many Australians and, particularly, young people need right now; it also goes to reducing the barriers to get a higher education degree.

These measures ease the financial pressure on current students and graduates as they enter the workforce, at a critical and pivotal moment in their lives. Labor also introduced the Commonwealth Prac Payment—direct and practical support for students undertaking essential degrees, such as teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work, as they complete their mandatory practical placements.

Just last month, this was extended to students in ten allied health disciplines—students like those undertaking pharmacy that I met just last month. What they described was something very interesting. They described the fact that not only would it take the pressure off and not only would it mean that people would not have to scrimp and save in secondary jobs to go through, but it would make their lives easier and that it would make that pathway to getting into the workforce just that little bit simpler.

I note that the assistant minister is a pharmacist herself and indeed, I believe, would be celebrating the paid prac placements of those students. The Albanese Labor government has also increased the number of free university bridging courses, removing barriers to tertiary education access. This has given students from diverse backgrounds increased opportunities to prepare for and begin higher education.

This was matched by doubling the number of university study hubs, with the establishment of 20 new hubs in regional locations and 14 in suburban communities. These hubs are designed to provide local access to resources and support for students who may not be able to relocate to major cities. Equity measures form another very important part of Labor's reform package.

All First Nations students who meet entry requirements are guaranteed Commonwealth supported university places, ensuring financial barriers do not prevent access to higher education opportunities. We also established the new National Student Ombudsman in response to student safety and wellbeing challenges. This provides an independent avenue for complaints and for support and operates alongside the national code to prevent and respond to gender based violence.

Finally, we created the Australian Tertiary Education Commission to guide the broader higher education system. This body acts as a central steward, overseeing and coordinating the tertiary education system to ensure it operates effectively and, critically, meets the needs of students, institutions and the wider community. The universities accord told us that we need action now in order for Australia to meet our future skills needs.

That means that we need to get more people to TAFE and that we need to get more people into university now. We know that people talk about university as the great equaliser, because it is. Education is that great equaliser, but it's important to remember that it is also the engine room for who we want to be as a nation and what our economy looks like, as a country.

This is critical to meet the universities accord recommendation to increase the number of people in the workforce who have a certificate, diploma or degree to 80 per cent, because, if we want Australia to be a place where we build homes, we need more young people doing trades in plumbing and carpentry and electrical. If we want young people to be supporting the care economy, we need more people at universities studying pharmacy and nursing.

It is those things that will make us stronger. The accord also told us that we need more higher education students from underrepresented backgrounds, like those I mentioned earlier, and more support for them when studying. That is the crux of this bill.

It implements a new funding model for higher education that will be managed by the Australian Tertiary Education Commission. It comes with a significant investment of $3.6 billion to boost the number of students at university to help us achieve that important 80 per cent figure. The two pillars of this new funding model are managed growth funding and needs based funding.

Managed growth funding will be the powerhouse behind building a bigger, better and fairer education system—a system that will give more Australians more opportunity to attend university. And needs based funding will focus on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, providing them with the support they need to succeed once they are at university. The reforms will also clarify and strengthen the role of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, particularly in how Commonwealth supported places at university are distributed.

After the passage of this bill, the government will set the total number of Commonwealth supported places while the Australian Tertiary Education Commission will allocate those places to specific universities. The commission will also be enabled to allocate additional places where there is demand from students from regional and remote communities and disadvantaged backgrounds.

In practice, this means the managed growth funding system will remove the cap on the number of university places for people from low socioeconomic backgrounds or regional areas, remove it for the people who need barriers removed the most. Instead, the system is designed to expand access, ensuring that more students from these groups have the opportunity to enrol in the higher education if that is the path that they want to pursue.

These changes are expected to significantly increase participation in higher education. In the next three years, an additional 16,000 places per year will be made available for students. From 2030, this will grow to 19,000 additional places per year.

And, ultimately, projections indicate that an additional 230,000 domestic students will begin university studies over the next decade. This anticipated growth reflects the broader goal of making higher education more accessible and making it more inclusive. To ensure the success of these reforms, universities and other higher education providers will receive support as they transition to those new funding arrangements.

This assistance will help institutions adapt to the updated system while maintaining quality education and student outcomes through the changeover period. As I mentioned, needs based funding will be directed towards students who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, First Nations students and those studying at regional institutions. Frankly, your bank balance should never be a barrier to a good education.

This is similar, in principle, to the Gonski model used in school education, where schools receive funding according to their location and the needs of their students. Applying this system to higher education means that institutions which enrol a higher number of students who meet certain equity and regional criteria will receive additional funding so that the support goes to where it is needed most.

This ensures that universities are better resourced to support students who may face greater barriers to accessing and succeeding in their higher education journey. As part of this shift, the level of funding provided per eligible student will increase substantially. The bill sets the base equity contribution at $1,535 per student and the base regional amount at $1,398.

This is a significant increase compared to previous arrangements, where university sometimes received as little as $600 per student. The updated funding levels are designed to more accurately reflect the real costs of supporting students who are in need. In some cases, the amount allocated for each student is expected to more than double from the previous year.

Universities will now have flexibility in how they use this additional funding to improve student participation and to improve their success. This may include providing enhanced academic support services, such as tutoring and mentoring, as well as offering direct financial assistance through scholarships and through grants. Institutions will also be able to use the funding to help offset the higher operational costs associated with maintaining campuses in regional and remote communities—ultimately strengthening access and educational outcomes across the sector.

Labor is proud to support improving outcomes for students from underrepresented backgrounds. Labor's reforms in the tertiary education sector have been widely welcomed by stakeholders—both universities and students alike. The President of the National Union of Students, Felix Hughes, said, 'These reforms recognise that equity must be built into the higher education funding system,' and 'supporting students from underrepresented backgrounds is essential to creating a more accessible higher education system.' The CEO of Universities Australia, Luke Sheehy, agreed.

He said: Australia needs more university-educated workers, not fewer. That means opening the door to university for more Australians, no matter their postcode, background or bank balance. More opportunity is good for students, good for communities and good for the economy.

This bill speaks directly to the word that's been thrown around this place so often of late. It speaks to ambition. The reforms in this bill are aimed squarely at people from disadvantaged backgrounds, people whose lives are often shaped by challenges that many of us will simply never face.

For many of them, ambition is not centred solely on personal achievement but encompasses uplifting their families and their communities. These people are not lacking in talent, nor are they lacking in motivation. Instead, they are navigating systems that make their pathways to university harder at every step.

That is where this bill comes in, because it reflects core Labor values that every person deserves a fair go regardless of their background, their personal circumstances or their bank balance.