The Hon Julia Gillard MP
Minister for Education. Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
Minister for Social Inclusion
Deputy Prime Minister
12 May, 2009
Media Release
BUDGET 2009-10: Reaching out to help more students from disadvantaged backgrounds into higher education
The Rudd Government will tackle the historic under-representation of students from disadvantaged backgrounds in higher education in Australia.
In these difficult economic times, the Government understands the importance of investing in all young people today to enhance their skills for the jobs of tomorrow.
A key aim of the Government’s Education Revolution is to raise the aspirations of students who would previously never have considered going to university.
The 2009-10 Budget delivers a $437 million reform package to reach the Government’s target of students from disadvantaged backgrounds representing 20 per cent of undergraduate enrolments by 2020.
Increasing the completion rates of students from disadvantaged backgrounds will also be important to achieving the Government’s ambition of 40 per cent of all 25-34 year olds achieving a bachelor degree or above by 2025.
Outreach programs for students in the early years of secondary schooling have been shown to be successful in raising student numbers.
As part of the total package, universities will receive $108 million over the next four years to develop partnerships with schools and vocational education and training providers, to reach students who might not have otherwise considered a university education.
Universities will be rewarded for attracting larger numbers of students from disadvantaged backgrounds through a per-student loading which will increase over time. This funding is untied and will be used to increase the quality of higher education experience for all students as well as for specific measures to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Students from disadvantaged backgrounds will also directly benefit from the Government’s major reforms to income support and scholarship arrangements announced in this Budget.
This measure will deliver $433 million to universities to attract students from disadvantaged backgrounds over four years.
The Government will also review the Higher Education Indigenous Support Program and other relevant Indigenous programs to determine their effectiveness in increasing the numbers of Indigenous Australians in higher education.