May 2011     Legislation introduced into Parliament will open up the opportunities of a university education to a broader range of Australian students.  The Higher Education Support Amendment (Demand Driven Funding System and Other Measures) Bill 2011 is fundamental to the Australian Government’s reforms to ensure that all Australians have the opportunity to gain a university education.

“As a result of the Government’s reforms in higher education, we have already seen an extra 80 000 undergraduate students get the opportunity of a university education since 2007,” said Senator Evans.  “Over the same period we have doubled the number of Commonwealth-supported postgraduate places, from 16 500 in 2007 to 33 000 this year.  For the first time in our history, public universities will be funded for student places based on student demand."

“We are moving away from a decades-old system of central planning in which, every year, universities negotiated student places with Canberra," he added.

In this year’s budget, the Australian Government committed a further $1.2 billion to fund growth in university enrolments, following the move to uncap undergraduate university places. This brings to $3.97 billion the total investment made by the current government to support the move to a higher education system that responds to student demand.

This major reform, which underpinned the Government’s response to the Bradley Review of Higher Education, has been accompanied by reforms to student income support which have provided thousands more students with additional support to attend university.

“There has been a substantial increase in the number of students with disadvantaged backgrounds and from regional areas and who are now receiving Youth Allowance payments for the first time,”  said Senator Evans.

From information provided by Senator Christopher Evans, May 26, 2011.

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