Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McKenzie for her question and her very passionate support for rural and regional education in particular. I commend her for her leadership, over a long period of time, of the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee, which she has just stepped down as being chair of. We welcome Senator Reynolds to that role. In regard to rural and regional education, the Turnbull government recognises the profound importance of providing support to regional education. Regionally headquartered universities received almost $1.8 billion in base funding for Commonwealth-supported students in 2017, and this is projected to grow by over $2 billion by 2021. Around 50,000 extra students from rural and regional Australia have participated in higher education since 2009, which demonstrates the growing participation rate and the closing of some of the gaps in higher education participation for different equity groups. Under the Turnbull government's higher education reforms, rural and regional students will continue to benefit from the investment of $592 million over the forward estimates in the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program, which supports low-SES, Indigenous and, particularly, regional students in their participation. It will enshrine the program in legislation to ensure that universities focus on providing the support students need and that they have the capability to do so.

Students in the regions will also benefit from the investment of more than $280 million over the next four years, through regional loading, to support the cost of educating students in regional and remote Australia. Rural and regional students will also benefit from the extension of the demand-driven system to sub-bachelor places, which will give rural and regional students greater opportunities to access and engage in the course that best suits them. They will also benefit from a proposal to establish up to eight new community owned regional hubs across Australia. These hubs, which will improve access for regional education students within their communities— (Time expired)