Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026

Ms AMBIHAIPAHAR (Barton) (17:55): I rise to speak on the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026. This bill is a blueprint for the future of higher education in this country. It is about setting up our kids for a future as big as their ambition, and it's about setting up our universities so they can foster our best and brightest.

And, therefore, it is about making our country as smart and strong as possible as it can be. That is what higher education is about. It's about giving people the tools they need to participate fully in society.

Of course, universities are only part of that picture; TAFE is another essential piece of the puzzle, giving people different pathways, different options and different chances to succeed. But today we are speaking about universities, and I want to frame this debate in the context of Barton, the community that I'm so proud to represent. People come to Barton because of opportunity.

We sit just outside the centre of Sydney. We have great train lines and buses that allow people to get to work, school and university. And, if you live in Kogarah, Wolli Creek, Rockdale, Hurstville, Arncliffe, Bexley or the surrounding suburbs, you are within reach of some of the best higher education institutions in this country.

You can get to the University of New South Wales, which I know is the university of choice for many locals in the St George area. You can get to the University of Sydney, which I did after graduating from Danebank in Hurstville. You can get to the University of Technology Sydney, to which I also went back to study law after completing my science degree and deciding to change my career.

That is the power of higher education. It does not just open the door; it opens many doors at different points in our lives. Because of Barton's proximity to these institutions, I meet so many young people who are thinking about university, preparing for university or already studying there.

For many of them, university is not just for their own dream; it's their parents dream too. It is something their families have worked for, saved for and also sacrificed for. Families move to our area because they want their children to have every possible chance.

They want them to go to good schools, be surrounded by opportunity and believe the future is open to them. In Barton we are blessed with really incredible schools. I think of Sydney Technical High School, Beverly Hills Girls High School, Kingsgrove High School, Kingsgrove North High School, Blakehurst High School, Marist Catholic College Kogarah, St Mary's and St Mina's Coptic Orthodox College, St Ursula's College, Bethany Catholic College Hurstville, St George Girls High School, Kogarah High School, Bayside High School and so many others just outside my boundaries.

These are schools filled with students who are so bright, ambitious and ready to make their mark in the world. And that is what this country should be about. There are some in this parliament—some in the other place—who like to talk a lot about Australian values.

They talk about who belongs, who gets to contribute and what Australia should actually look like. But to me, Australian values are very clear: they are aspiration, hard work, sacrifice and the belief that the next generation should have more opportunities than the one before it. And Barton is full of that aspiration.

It is aspiration of parents who came here to give their kids a better chance than they had. It is families working long hours, taking extra shifts, running small businesses commuting across the city, doing everything they can to make sure their children can stand on stronger ground. It is a whole family carrying hope for the future together.

And it's because of this aspiration that I want to say to every kid in Barton: your postcode should not limit your future, your parents' income should not decide your future, and your background should never be treated as a barrier to your future. For many families in my electorate, that future includes university. So, when I think about this bill, I think about the year 12 students I speak to across my electorate—the students studying hard, sitting exams, working part time and wondering whether university is really within reach.

They want to know that, if they go to university, they will not be saddled with a debt that follows them around for the rest of their lives. They want higher education to help them move forward and not hold them back. A university degree should be a doorway, not a debt sentence.

I also think about the students already at university. They want to know that, when they graduate, they will step into a workforce that has a place for them. They are worried about the future of work.

They're worried about whether artificial intelligence will wipe out entry-level jobs. They are worried that the skills they have spent years learning may not actually match to the economy they graduate into. I hear that concern.

Young people are not imagining it. They are looking at a changing world and asking whether the systems around them are keeping up. Young people are not asking for a free ride.

They're asking for a fair shot. They're asking whether this country still believes that if you work hard, you study hard and you back yourself there will be a place for you. I want those students to know that when I come into this place, when I sit in the caucus, when I sit in committee and when I look at legislation and policy I'm thinking about them.

I'm thinking about the country they will inherit, the jobs they will do, the communities they will serve and the contribution they will make. Our job in this parliament is not just to manage the present; it is about preparing for the future. That means making higher education fairer.

It means making sure university is not reserved for those whose families can already afford it. It means making sure students who work hard, dream big and want to contribute to this country have a real chance to do so. Let's look at this bill and see what it actually does.

The main thing this bill does is introduce a new funding system. This is demand driven, needs based funding to support students from underrepresented backgrounds to get into university and stay at university and succeed once they are there. I think Minister Clare described it best when he called it Gonski but for universities.

That means when a university enrols more students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, First Nations students and regional students it will receive more funding to support them—simple as that. This matters. Getting into university is only the first step.

We also have to make sure students have the support they need to finish it. This funding will give universities additional resources for tutoring, mentoring, academic support, scholarships and emergency financial assistance. For some students, that support might be the difference between actually finishing their degree and dropping out.

It might be the difference between buying textbooks, paying rent, getting to campus, taking on a placement or keeping going when things really get hard. Under these changes, that funding will be about double what universities would previously receive per student, and that's a serious investment in young people, fairness and Australia's future. These changes flow from the universities accord process, a 12-month review of the higher education sector.

That review found: The current … model does not provide for sufficient growth in enrolments to meet the nation's skills needs, with growth occurring in unplanned, unmanaged and under-funded ways that can have unintended consequences for the breadth and quality of courses. That should concern all of us. It tells us that the system is not properly set up to produce the graduates our country needs.

Growth has been happening in a way that is not planned properly, managed properly or funded properly. It also tells us too many students are being pushed into a system that does not always set them up for success. Too many students are taking on debt for courses that may not lead them where they need to go.

Too many students with the marks, ability and work ethic are still missing out because they do not come from wealthy families or communities where university has always felt like a given. That's not good enough. Talent is not confined to one postcode.

Intelligence is not confined to one income bracket. Ambition is not confined to one kind of family. There are brilliant kids in Barton and right across this country who deserve every chance to get into the course they have earned, study the skills our country needs and build the future they are working so hard for.

That is why we are introducing this legislation. Under this bill, the minister will be able to amend the total allocation pool determination, either on their own initiative or following a request from the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, in response to demand from equity cohorts. That sounds a bit technical, but what it means is quite practical.

It means the system can respond when more students from underrepresented backgrounds want to study. It means universities will be resourced to support them. It means there will be enough places for eligible students from equity backgrounds to participate.

In plain English, students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, First Nations students and students from regional areas will have a fairer chance to get into courses they have earned their place in. That is what opening the doors of opportunity actually means. It's not telling young people to work hard and then leaving the door half shut.

It's making sure that, when they do work hard, there is a real place for them on the other side. The bill will also give the minister greater flexibility to determine different kinds of courses as demand-driven higher education courses in order to respond to emerging government priorities. For example, the minister may choose to classify courses such as nursing or education as demand-driven courses to support more enrolments where the workforce need is clear.

Those needs are clear. We need nurses, teachers, social workers and engineers. We need people with the skills to care for our community, build our future, strengthen our economy and respond to the challenges that are coming at us.

This bill is not just about university places; it's about making sure Australia has the workforce it needs. It's about saying to a young person in Barton, 'If you want to become a nurse, teacher, lawyer, scientist, social worker, engineer or anything else this country needs then your background should not be the thing that stops you.' All of this means we are effectively uncapping the number of places for students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds and regional areas.

It means making sure our young people are studying the subjects and learning the skills they need to build good lives, support their families and contribute to this country. We expect these changes will result in an extra 230,000 Australian students at our universities over the next decade. That is 230,000 more people whose talents this country cannot afford to waste.

This is on top of the work this government has already done through the Australian Universities Accord. We have wiped 20 per cent off student debts. We've capped HECS indexation to the lower of CPI and WPI.

We have introduced paid pracs for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students. We have increased the number of free university-ready courses. We are doubling the number of university study hubs.

That's because this government has a vision for the future, and it's not some vague consultation thought-bubble. It is much simpler than that. It is trusting the talent of our kids.

It's giving people a fair go. It's rewarding aspiration. It's making sure that every child in every community has the chance to build a life as big as their ambition.