Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Crossin for the question. The Gillard government believes in the transformative power of education and we are committed to ensuring that all Australians who are eligible to attend university are given that opportunity. I am pleased to report to the Senate that, as a result of the government's landmark higher education reforms, more Australian students than ever before have the opportunity of a university education. The Gillard government has moved away from a decades-old system of central planning under which every year universities were forced to negotiate an allocated number of student places with the government in Canberra. We removed this cap on enrolments and for the first time universities will be able to grow with confidence and diversify in response to student needs.

As a result of our reforms and our record investment in higher education, we have already seen an extra 80,000 undergraduate students get the opportunity of a university education since 2007. The government has opened the doors of Australia's universities to more students than ever before. Both our nation's universities and our students are responding strongly to those opportunities. The most recent figures show that in 2011 more than 480,000 undergraduate places have been funded and that next year, for the first time, the number of places will grow to more than half a million. The increase in university enrolments will make a major contribution to the government's important target that by 2025 40 per cent of all 25- to 34-year-olds will hold a qualification at bachelor's degree level or above. This is great news in itself, but it is also extremely important for our economy. It means that more Australians will have the chance to gain the qualifications they need to access the higher skilled jobs of the future. It is critical because Skills Australia has forecast that by 2025 a third of all jobs will require a minimum of a bachelor's degree qualification. This will give people the opportunity of the higher skilled jobs. (Time expired)