Portfolio — 23 April 2026

Minister for Education Jason Clare today launched the FEE-FREE Uni Ready Best Practice Guide, a practical resource for universities establishing or expanding bridging courses, developed with $1.5 million in Government funding channelled through the University of Newcastle [TA-260423-educat-e7b173329f39]. The launch sits within a substantially larger fiscal commitment: the Government is investing $1.1 billion over ten years to make bridging courses free at the point of access, a policy stream the Universities Accord identified as central to reaching the target of 80 per cent of the workforce holding a tertiary qualification by 2050 [TA-260423-educat-e7b173329f39].

Clare framed the Guide as a barrier-reduction tool, citing the University of Newcastle as a proof-of-concept institution where one in five students completes a bridging course before entering a degree program [TA-260423-educat-e7b173329f39].

The enrolment trajectory underpinning the policy case is substantial. More than 25,000 students enrolled in bridging courses in 2025. The Government projects a further 25,000 enrolments in 2026, growth to 30,000 by 2030 — a 40 per cent increase on 2023 levels — and a doubling of 2023 levels by 2040.

The equity dimension is explicit in the program's design: the courses are targeted at students from disadvantaged backgrounds, students with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and students from regional and remote areas — cohorts the Universities Accord identified as underrepresented in higher education. Today's announcement consolidates the Government's framing of bridging courses not as remedial pathways but as a mainstream on-ramp to university, with the Best Practice Guide intended to lift consistency and quality as the program scales rapidly across the sector.