Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our government has set an ambitious target that, by 2050, 80 per cent of the workforce will have a qualification. But today that figure is sitting at around 60 per cent. We know that, to reach this target, we need to boost university enrolments, particularly in regional Australia. While almost one in two young people have a university degree in our cities, that isn't the case in our regions.

The best way to boost this engagement is to bring university closer to where these young people live, and that's exactly what our Regional University Study Hubs are doing. We know that these hubs are working, with nearly 4,500 students enrolled at the 46 hubs that currently operate around the country. That's why, in March this year, we announced an additional 10 new hubs across the country and funding for two existing Country Universities Centres, in Cowra and Mudgee in New South Wales. Just yesterday we announced that applications have opened for 10 more of these hubs to be established around Australia.

The data shows us that around 42 per cent of students at these hubs are the first in their family to attend university, with 11 per cent of students identifying as First Nations. As someone who was the first in their family to attend university, this is fantastic to see. We're also seeing that, when you give people the opportunity to study closer to where they live, they are much more likely to stay and work in their communities after that. That means that the next nurse or the next teacher could already be in one of these towns, studying at one of the Regional University Study Hubs.

From the Kimberley to Cape York and then down to the Barossa Valley, it has been incredibly rewarding to meet staff and students at these university hubs and see the impact they are having on them in their community. With applications open for 10 more hubs, I want to encourage rural, regional and remote communities to take advantage of this opportunity and lodge an application. Our government is committed to providing a better and fairer education system, and regional university study hubs are an important part of this.