Funding boost lets universities focus on their strengths

The Hon Julia Gillard MP

11 December, 2008

Media release

Funding boost lets universities focus on their strengths

The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, today announced funding of $111.5 million to encourage greater specialisation among higher education providers and promote diversity across the sector.

More than 30 universities will receive funding for 49 projects through the latest round of the Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund.

Successful projects will help the higher education sector better respond to student and employer demand and assist universities in developing their distinctive missions.

Projects will promote innovative arrangements with partners in higher education and in vocational education and training, to create new pathways for students across the tertiary sector.

Many of the projects will also promote access to universities for students from low socio-economic status backgrounds, regional and remote Australia and Indigenous students.

As part of the Education Revolution the Rudd Government has already increased investment in universities and taken action to ensure Australians are able to access a world-class tertiary education.

In the first twelve months, the Rudd Government has:

Invested $500 million through the Better Universities Renewal Fund to help Australian universities rebuild their campus infrastructure.
Provided new funding for capital expenditure, and renewal and refurbishment to Australia’s higher education and vocational education and training institutions through the Education Investment Fund.
Phased out domestic full fee undergraduate degrees at public universities, ensuring Australian students gain entry to university on merit, not ability to pay.
Injected $238 million to increase the number of higher education graduates in areas of skills shortage. This will double the number of students receiving Commonwealth Scholarships to 88,000 by 2012.
Announced a range of measures to rebuild student services and amenities, new representation and advocacy protocols, enabling providers to charge a services and amenities fee and a HECs style loan for the payment of the fee.
Provided funding of $779.2 million over four years to help new students studying the critical disciplines of maths and science as well as the priority areas of early childhood education and nursing.
Commissioned a major review of the higher education sector that will help shape the higher education policy agenda for the decade ahead. The expert panel leading the review will deliver its final report to Government this month.

A full list of successful projects is below and further information on the Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund is available at www.deewr.gov.au/dsa.

2008 Competitive Round of the Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund

Successful Projects

Lead Organisation	Project Title	Project Total $	University Total $
Australian National University	The Engineering 'Hubs And Spokes' Project	3,800,000
	The Health ‘Hubs And Spokes’ Project	3,200,000
			7,000,000
Central Queensland University	Place-Based Education Pathways - Gladstone	991,000
	Place-Based Education Pathways - Mackay	991,000
			1,982,000
Charles Darwin University	Achieving Best Practice Flexible Provision At CDU	2,867,000
			2,867,000
Charles Sturt University	Building Capacity For Early Childhood Education	2,108,000
			2,108,000
Curtin University of Technology	Building Cultural Safety For Health Services	1,200,000
			1,200,000
Deakin University	Deakin At Your Doorstep	8,213,000
			8,213,000
Edith Cowan University	Strategic Initiatives To Address Teacher Shortages	930,000
			930,000
Flinders University of South Australia	Enhancing Engineering Choices For S.A. Students	340,000
	Southern Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Program.	3,254,000
			3,594,000
James Cook University	Australia's University For The Tropics	2,800,000
	The Cairns Institute: Establishment Phase	5,184,000
			7,984,000
La Trobe University	Integrated Rural Health Workforce Development-Vic	3,162,000
			3,162,000
Macquarie University	Curriculum Based Participation & Engagement Model	2,250,000
			2,250,000
Monash University	Increasing Regional Student Participation	1,701,000
			1,701,000
Murdoch University	Addressing Labour Market And Regional Needs	240,000
	Development Studies Professional Practicum	390,000
			630,000
Queensland University of Technology	Caboolture Region Healthcare Simulation Centre	230,000
	Social Inclusion (low-SES)-aspiration/philanthropy	1,154,000
	Teacher Education Done Differently	1,450,000
			2,834,000
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology	Global Green Car Learning Clusters	441,000
			441,000
Swinburne University of Technology	Associate Degree In Engineering	802,000
			802,000
University of Adelaide	Underpinning The Precision Greentech Revolution	580,000
			580,000
University of Canberra	Entry Pathways To Enhance Regional Participation	800,000
	Work Integrated Learning: A Collaborative Model	830,000
			1,630,000
University of Melbourne	A New Generation: The Clinical Teaching Model	7,960,000
	The Community Clinical School Model	6,566,000
			14,526,000
University of New England	Dehub: Innovation In Distance Learning	3,544,000
			3,544,000
University of New South Wales	ASPIRE	339,000
			339,000
University of Newcastle	Agreement For Reciprocal Credit (ARC)	210,000
			210,000
University of Queensland	Providing Languages Other Than English In Brisbane	2,271,000
			2,271,000
University of South Australia	Closing The Gap: Developing An Inclusion Framework	3,969,000
	Student Employability Skills & Community Service	1,922,000
			5,891,000
University of Southern Queensland	Integrated Articulation And Credit Transfer	1,594,000
			1,594,000
University of Sydney	Graduate School of the Brain & Mind Sciences	2,365,000
	Increasing Student Diversity In Higher Education	3,549,000
			5,914,000
University of Tasmania	Australian National Network In Marine Science	3,430,000
	Integrated Tasmanian Creative Arts Education	2,520,000
	Primary Industry Centre For Science Education	3,601,000
	Unlocking Talent: The New Regional Campus	2,000,000
			11,551,000
University of Technology, Sydney	National Support For Laboratory Resource Sharing	2,120,000
	Power Engineering Centres Of Excellence (Final)	325,000
			2,445,000
University of Western Australia	Aspire UWA	2,456,000
			2,456,000
University of Western Sydney	Embedding An Indigenous Graduate Attribute	900,000
	Parramatta Community Justice Centre	448,000
	UWS Nirimba - Creating A New Student Experience	5,700,000
			7,048,000
University of Wollongong	Networked Solution To Educational Workforce Needs	3,347,000
			3,347,000
Victoria University	National Work Integrated Learning Portal	402,000
			402,000

Media Contact:

Deputy Prime Minister's Press Office: 02 6277 7758

DEEWR Media: media@deewr.gov.au

Non-media queries: 1300 363 079

Ministers Media Centre - Employment, Education and Workplace Relations portfolio

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Media release

Funding boost lets universities focus on their strengths

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