Australia’s government says its new funding system will “open the doors of opportunity” by bankrolling more university places and offering sweeteners to boost enrolments from regional and disadvantaged communities.
But critics say the new arrangements have a “blind spot” around postgraduate education and will constrain participation by curtailing unsubsidised enrolments.
A bill introduced into parliament on 25 June legislates a system of “managed growth” where the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec) doles out places to universities from a “total allocation pool” set by the government.
Education minister Jason Clare said the pool would be expanded by 230,000 over the next decade, accumulating an additional 16,000 places each year in 2027, 2028 and 2029 and 19,000 a year thereafter.
Atec will have the power to allocate extra places to meet demand from disadvantaged and regional students. It will be able to request more places from the education minister if it underestimates demand. It will also allot an estimated 20,000 extra places over the next five years to help universities with too many unsubsidised students to adapt to the new regime.
