Universities have applauded the Australian government¡¯s chosen method of distributing thousands of extra undergraduate places ¨C including institutions unlikely to benefit directly.

Education minister Jason Clare has embedded his personal priority of inclusivity in the government¡¯s response to demographic growth, with the 20,000 extra places ¨C a?pre-election commitment ¨C reserved for disadvantaged students.

¡°Where you live, how much your parents earn [and] whether you are Indigenous or not is still a major factor in whether you are a student or a?graduate of an Australian university,¡± Mr Clare said. ¡°I?don¡¯t want us to be a country where your chances in life depend on your postcode, your parents or the colour of your skin.¡±

The comments echo Mr Clare¡¯s address to the Universities Australia conference in July, when he identified equity as his overriding concern in higher education.

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Under the government¡¯s plan, institutions must grant the extra places to students from low socio-economic or regional backgrounds, Indigenous Australians, people with disabilities or those who ¨C like Mr Clare ¨C are the first in their family to attend university. Places must also be dedicated to areas of identified workforce need.

The government has allocated up to A$486?million (?281?million) to bankroll the extra places over the next four years, with students starting over the next two years and ¡°application processes¡± opening this month for both commencing cohorts.

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Australian National University (ANU) vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt backed the approach even though he expected to secure few if any of the extra places. Familiar postcode-based measures of disadvantage were ¡°challenging¡± for Canberra-based institutions because ¡°there are no?below-median postcodes in Canberra¡±, he told THE?Campus Live?ANZ at Victoria University.

¡°The devil will be in the detail about getting the settings right, so that the people who are not going to university right now get an opportunity to [do]?so. This may be¡­a?first step that won¡¯t directly give me a bunch more students, [but] I¡¯m prepared to play the long game.¡±

Paddy Nixon, vice-chancellor of the neighbouring University of Canberra, said the city had a relatively high socio-economic profile because it was a ¡°designed town¡± with social housing ¡°embedded all over the city. That plays out in my institution, which has a really high number of first-in-family [students],¡± he told the conference.

While the government¡¯s allocation method was ¡°absolutely very welcome¡±, 20,000 extra places were not enough to meet workforce needs. ¡°If?you just look at the forward plans for infrastructure building, for teaching, for aged care, for nursing, they¡¯re not going to be filled by migration. We need growth in the sector,¡± Professor Nixon said.

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Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said there was ¡°absolute support¡± for the government¡¯s approach, although it was unclear exactly which students would qualify for the extra places. ¡°We¡¯ll look at the detail as soon as we get it, and I?think that might be as soon as today,¡± she said.

¡°The conversations we¡¯ve had¡­with the minister indicate that there¡¯s real intent to make sure this is as functional as it can be. [For] example, there are people of significant disadvantage in Canberra ¨C they¡¯re just spread through the community in a deliberate design way. We don¡¯t [want to be] knocking people out because they happen to live in a postcode where people around the corner have plenty of money.¡±

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com