Overview
- The House has moved forward legislation that will remove caps on places for regional and low‑socioeconomic (low‑SES) students and embed a needs‑based funding model for universities.
- The package unlocks funding for an extra 230,000 commencing places over the next decade and paves the way for about $3.6 billion in additional government‑supported places.
- Universities will receive two targeted per‑student supplements to support tutoring and mentoring: $1,535 for eligible equity students and $1,398 for regional students.
- Each university will be assigned a defined "core student load" and the Australian Tertiary Education Commission will decide any additional growth allocation for disadvantaged and regional enrolments, shifting planning to a central regulator.
- The reforms have provoked debate because an earlier soft launch of the model coincided with higher ATAR cut‑offs and fewer offers at several Sydney universities, and critics note the package does not change degree pricing set by the Job Ready Graduates settings.