Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026

Ms STANLEY (Werriwa—Government Whip) (18:52): I rise to make my contribution to the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026. It's sometimes forgotten, but the history books record that, on 5 December 1973, Lionel Bowen, then a Whitlam minister, announced that there would be two new universities, one in Campbelltown and one in Albury-Wodonga.

Later, on 26 February 1974, the federal Minister for Education, Kim Beazley Sr, announced nearly $100,000 in funding for the New South Wales government for the establishment of the university in Campbelltown. Perhaps much more widely known is the decision by Whitlam to open the gates to universities by abolishing fees to attend. I'm told that, towards the end of his life, letters of thanks from grateful students, especially women who benefited from Gough's decision, were the most common that he would receive.

Whitlam was, of course, deeply committed to Western Sydney University. It houses his papers and library and continues his legacy through research, publications and promoting public discourse. From a personal perspective, Western Sydney University has also provided my own children with an excellent tertiary education, one which will serve them for the rest of their lives.

As much as Medicare is a part of Labor's DNA, so is our commitment to education. Labor believes that one of the key vehicles to improving the lives of Australians is education, from early childhood right through to university and beyond. In this ever-changing world, the demands on our education system are immense, not just to produce an educated workforce but also to produce educated thinkers.

In the ensuing years after Whitlam, Labor's commitment to education has never wavered. We're always looking for new ways to bolster our learning institutions in whatever manner or shape they take. For example, in the early childhood sector, the Albanese Labor government increased childcare subsidies.

Further, to address critical workforce shortages, we've championed a historic pay rise. In relation to our schools, the Albanese Labor government has introduced scholarships and the Commonwealth prac payment to support those who are in training. In addition, through the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, this government is putting every public school and the 2.6 million students who attend them on the path of receiving full funding.

TAFE has not escaped the government's attention either. Indeed, I would argue that Labor's commitment to the fee-free TAFE program will go down in history as the most significant education policy announcement since Federation. As a result of this decision in 2023, the program has recorded over 650,000 enrolments and more than 170,000 course completions.

Not only that, this government has now established fee-free TAFE as a permanent feature of Australia's VET system. The Albanese Labor government stands proud of the achievements in the education sector, but, like in all areas of public administration, there is always more to do. That brings us to the bill before us today.

In 2024, the government released the final report of the Australian Universities Accord. In short, the accord provides a blueprint for higher education reform over the next number of decades. Of the accord's 47 recommendations, the Albanese government has already implemented, either in part or in full, 30 of the recommendations.

Some of the reforms implemented include cutting HECS debt by 20 per cent, capping indexation on HECS debts to the lower of the CPI or the WPI, doubling the number of university study hubs, establishing the Australian Tertiary Education Commission—the ATEC—introducing the National Student Ombudsman and increasing the number of fee-free university bridging courses.

Part of the universities accord states that to meet Australia's future workforce needs, the number of people in the workforce with a certificate, diploma or degree will need to be around 80 per cent. This means that people will need to attend either TAFE or uni, and, for this to be achieved, action needs to be taken now. The Australian Universities Accord thankfully provides the blueprint to deliver on this target by recommending a new funding model for higher education that is planned and managed by the Australian Tertiary Education Commission.

The accord also recommends increasing the number of higher education students from underrepresented backgrounds. In response to the accord's recommendations, in the 2024-25 MYEFO the Albanese Labor government committed an additional $2.5 billion to Australia's higher education system over the next decade. The bill before us enacts that commitment through a new funding system.

In addition, it will also embed a new managed growth funding system and establish demand driven needs based funding to support students from underrepresented backgrounds to both access and succeed in university. Further, the bill will also formalise the role of ATEC in allocating supported places. In effect, the new Managed Growth Funding System will remove the cap on the number of places for students from regional areas and low socioeconomic backgrounds.

In raw numbers, it is expected that this will result in an additional 200,000 domestic students commencing at university over the next decade. For universities, the funding will work a little similar to Gonski for schools—that is, the more students a university has that meet the criteria, the more funding they will receive to help these students succeed. The bill sets the base equity amount at $1,535 and the base regional amount at $1,398.

That's more than double the amount provided to universities per student last year. Universities will be able to put this additional funding towards things such as tutoring, mentoring and other academic supports, as well as direct financial assistance. In addition to these welcome reforms, the bill in front of us today also sets out the framework for ATEC to exercise its existing functions to allocate international student places.

Further, it makes small technical amendments to modernising the sharing of information between the Commonwealth Ombudsman, TEQSA and ATEC. The bill, in its title, includes the words 'opening the doors of opportunity', and those are words I heartily endorse. The Albanese Labor government is committed to opening the doors of opportunity for all Australians, regardless of their age or where they live.

Gough Whitlam spent his entire time in public life working to create opportunities for all Australians while also dismantling the inequalities that by their very existence denied access to such opportunities. I, as the current member for Werriwa, am equally committed to these aims and ideals. I commend the bill to the House.