Universities - Building Regional Australia
14 February 2000
The NTEU, representing staff in Australian universities, has welcomed the ALP\'s regional university initiatives announced today.
`They shine a spotlight on an important part of regional Australia\'s infrastructure - its universities,\' NTEU President Dr Carolyn Allport said. `Universities play an important part in research, education and training that is relevant to the needs of their region, and in the provision of services to the community.\'
`For example, Charles Sturt University is a hub of viticulture research, which supports the local wine industry, while the Institute for Sustainable Regional Development at Central Queensland University explores issues of resource management relevant to local industry. Across the board, education contributes to regional development more than any other industry. For every million dollars in education turnover, 38 jobs are created.\'
Dr Allport said that the initiatives announced by the ALP - improving access to bandwidth technology and increasing postgraduate places - were essential if regional universities were to flourish, but represented only a small part of what is required.
`Under the Coalition, regional universities have suffered in terms of infrastructure and opportunities to enrol research postgraduates. The Coalition has put in place a few schemes to `cushion\' the impact of its policies on regional universities, but these are inadequate and take resources away from other universities.\'
`At the same time, the proportion of students from rural and isolated backgrounds have declined by 1.5%. A recent study, `Rural and Isolated Students and their Higher Education Choices\' found that the high cost of university fees discourages many,\' she said.
` We have to lift the level of investment in every regional student and improve opportunities for students in regional Australia to attend universities close to home. Today\'s announcement is a first step, and we hope that more will follow.\'