Campus-style hubs to aid uni students in city outskirts

The federal government will roll out 10 new suburban study hubs for TAFE and university students. (Paul Miller/AAP PHOTOS)

University students who live on the outskirts of Australia's biggest cities will have greater access to their campus with study facilities to roll out closer to home.

The Albanese government will on Saturday announce the establishment of 10 new suburban study hubs across NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.

The facilities will provide support and campus-style resources for students studying a university or TAFE course.

Map of study hubs
Suburban study hubs will open across NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, WA and Tasmania.

Victoria will have new hubs in Broadmeadows, Epping and Melton while NSW will welcome centres in Macquarie Fields and Kurri Kurri.

Elizabeth in South Australia, Strathpine in Queensland, Sorrell in Tasmania and Western Australia's Armadale, Ellenbrook and Mandurah will also have hubs, with all 10 expected to welcome students by mid-2025. 

The $66.9 million investment is in response to the priority identified in the Australian Universities Accord interim report released in 2023.

The report called for the creation of more hubs to "extend visible, local access to tertiary education".

There are currently 41 regional university study hubs across the country with five more expected to open by the first semester of 2025. 

Four additional suburban hubs targeting areas with low university attainment in the outer suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will open on Monday.

Education Minister Jason Clare said the initiative would bring university closer to where people lived.

“Almost one in two young people in their 20s and their 30s have a university degree today ... but not everywhere," he said in a statement on Friday.

"Not in our outer suburbs and not in regional Australia."

Mr Clare said the evidence showed study hubs increased the number of people going to university and finishing a degree, with more than 4500 students using the regional hub network to further their studies.

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