Talent is everywhere. Opportunity isn’t. How the CUC is changing access and opportunity for regional students.  

The Minister for Education Jason Clare introduced the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026 into Parliament last week in what was another significant step from the Government in breaking down the barriers that have long stopped talented people in regional, rural and remote Australia from going to and completing university.  

For a network built on the belief that talent in regional Australia has never been an issue but rather access, this Bill is a welcomed and validates the work happening across Australia through Regional University Study Hubs (RUSH) like the Country Universities Centres (CUC).  

The Bill has two aims. To establish a Managed Growth Funding model to build a better and fairer education system, and to establish a Needs-based Funding model so more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and the regions get the support they need to succeed at university.  

The new legislation will deliver an additional 16,000 Commonwealth Supported Places a year through to 2029 (rising to 19,000 a year from 2030), and the Needs-Based Funding will allow universities to receive more funding as they enrol students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, First Nations students, and students studying at regional campuses to provide additional resources for tutoring, mentoring, academic assistance, scholarships and emergency financial support. 

“Talent is everywhere. It’s opportunity that’s not. And this Bill will help change that,” Minister Clare said.

 

“If you get the marks, or you’ve got the skills, you’ve got what it takes. You will get a place. We’re also making sure you will get the support you need when you get there.”

The numbers tell a stark story. Close to half of Australians in their thirties hold a university degree but that figure roughly halves again for people who grew up in the regions. To meet the University Accord’s ambitious target of 80% of working-age Australians having a tertiary qualification (Cert III or above) by 2050 dismantling the barriers facing young people from low-SES families and regional, rural and remote communities will have to happen whilst also improving the support available for those who cannot or choose not to leave their communities. It is important to distinguish that the target’s goal is not just a university one, it’s a tertiary one and it recognises that TAFE qualifications alongside university degrees are building the skills and workforces Australia depends on.  

This is where CUCs come in.  

Operating under the Australian Government’s RUSH program, CUC Centres let people study any tertiary qualification or course, from any provider without leaving their community since 2017. At the Centre students are supported by local staff and have access to study spaces and wraparound support – all for free. 
The CUC welcomes the Opening the Doors of Opportunity Bill as a vital step toward the Accord’s target and as strong signal that the Australian Government recognises the role place-based, community-led models must play in getting there.

“This Bill backs in exactly what our communities have been telling us for years: that ambition and ability isn’t the problem, access is,” said CUC CEO Lou Conway.  

“CUC Centres exist because students in regional, rural and remote Australia deserve the same shot at a university or TAFE qualification as anyone in a capital city, without having to uproot their lives to get it. We can’t wait to keep building on this momentum and help even more people across the country reach their tertiary education goals.”

The evidence shows what’s possible when this model is embedded in community. One site, CUC Snowy Monaro based in Cooma NSW, recorded a 64 per cent increase in local university students between the 2011 and 2021 Census periods. This is almost four times the 17.5 per cent growth seen across the rest of regional NSW over the same decade.  

Across the national network, students registered study through a CUC are disproportionately First Nations Australians (8 per cent), much higher than the national average, and roughly 50 per cent do not have an immediate family member who has attended university. Overall, students throughout the network continue to choose regional universities as their provider of choice with Charles Sturt University, University of New England, University of Southern Queensland, Southern Cross University and James Cook University the most common among students in Semester 1, 2026.