Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026
Senator CAROL BROWN (Tasmania) (10:11): I rise to support the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026. This bill is about opening the doors of our universities to more Australians and making sure that, once students get through those doors, they have the support they need to succeed. In February 2024, the Albanese Labor government released the final report of the Australian Universities Accord.
It is a blueprint for higher education reforms over the next decade and the decade after that. The accord recommends that, by 2050, at least 80 per cent of the working-age population have a tertiary education. That means more people going to TAFE and more people going to university, and it means we need to start building that system now.
The government has already implemented more than 30 of the accord's 47 recommendations in full or in part. We have made HECS better and fairer by cutting 20 per cent from student debts, capping indexation at the lower of CPI and WPI, raising the minimum repayment threshold and moving it to a marginal repayment system. We have introduced paid prac for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students.
We're doubling the number of university study hubs, with 20 new regional university study hubs and 14 new suburban university study hubs. We have increased the number of free university bridging courses, introduced the National Student Ombudsman and the National Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence, made demand driven Commonwealth supported places available to all First Nations students who meet the entry requirements, and established the Australian Tertiary Education Commission as a steward of the tertiary education system.
This bill takes the next major step. The Australian Universities Accord recommended a new approach to funding higher education, planned and managed through the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, as well as a stronger focus on increasing the numbers of students from backgrounds that have historically been underrepresented at university. This bill delivers on that recommendation through a new managed-growth funding system and demand driven needs based funding.
Together, these changes represent an additional $3.6 billion investment in higher education over the next decade and are expected to support an extra 230,000 commencing domestic university students between 2027 and 2036. That is a significant expansion of opportunity. The managed growth funding system will better align Commonwealth funding with the number of students universities actually enrol.
Importantly, it will effectively uncap the number of places for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and regional areas. Higher education providers will also be supported to transition to the new funding system. That matters because talent and potential are not determined by a postcode, a family income or whether your parents went to university.
For Tasmania, this is particularly important. We are a regional state, and where someone lives should not determine whether a university education feels within reach. But opening the door is only one part of the job.
It's not enough simply to increase the number of students who enrol. We also need to make sure students have a genuine opportunity to succeed once they get there. That is where needs based funding is so important.
Universities will receive additional funding to support students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, First Nations students and students studying at regional campuses. The principle is straightforward: the more students a university has who meet those criteria, the more funding it will receive to help those students participate and succeed. It is similar in principle to needs based funding in our schools.
The bill sets a base equity amount of $1,535 and a base regional amount of $1,398. In some cases, that will be more than double the amount of funding provided per student compared with similar previous programs, where the average amount provided could have been as little as $600. Universities will be able to use that additional funding in practical ways.
It can go towards tutoring, mentoring and other academic supports. It can provide direct financial assistance through scholarships and grants, and it can help meet the higher cost of operating campuses in regional and remote areas. Getting into university is only the beginning.
If we are serious about opening the doors of opportunity, then students need to be supported not just to enrol but to stay, succeed and complete their qualification. The bill also formalises ATEC's role in allocating Commonwealth supported places. It establishes a framework for ATEC to allocate international student places where the Minister for Education makes an international allocation pool determination, and it makes technical amendments to improve information sharing between the Commonwealth Ombudsman, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency and ATEC.
Since the bill was introduced, the government has continued to listen and work constructively with the sector and across the parliament to strengthen these reforms. The government is moving amendments that will require ATEC to consider student demand when allocating Commonwealth supported places. The amendments will also clarify that a student's eligibility for needs based funding is not reassessed each time that student enrols in an individual unit.
They will reduce or remove the scope of some ministerial powers relating to designated courses and designated course allocations. The amendments will also confirm that only areas categorised as non-metropolitan under the ABS remoteness structure will be eligible for the regional contribution amount. These amendments do not change the purpose of the bill.
They strengthen the way the new system will operate. They respond to issues raised through scrutiny of the legislation and provide greater certainty for students and universities. I welcome the fact that these reforms are attracting broad support across parliament.
Reform of this scale should be built to last. The central purpose remains clear: Australia needs more people with tertiary qualifications. We cannot meet that need by continuing to draw university students from the same parts of our population.
We need more people from regional communities to have the opportunity to study. We need more people from low socioeconomic backgrounds. We need more First Nations students.
When those students take up that opportunity, universities need the resources to help them succeed. The universities accord itself was informed by more than 820 public submissions and extensive consultation. Further consultation on the managed growth funding system and needs based funding involved universities, higher education peak bodies and other organisations across the sector.
For Labor, education has always been about opportunity. Australia should be a country where every generation can aspire to something better, and education is one of the most powerful ways we make that possible. It can be the path from disadvantage to opportunity.
It can open doors that might otherwise remain closed. It can give people the chance to fulfil their potential regardless of where they grew up or what their family circumstances are. We know ability is not confined to any one postcode or background.
The opportunity to use that ability should not be either. This bill will support more Australians to get a university education, it will provide additional support to students who need it most and it will help build the skilled workforce Australia will need in the decades ahead. For Tasmania, my home state, it means more opportunity for students from regional communities and more support to help them succeed.
That is good for students, good for communities and good for Australia. I commend the bill to the Senate.