Opinion
If Australia were to build a university system today from scratch, with equity of access and opportunity for all, would we build a system that provides choice to students via a national constellation of strong and diverse universities?
Or would we seek to build a system that perpetually concentrates our finite public resources in a handful of very large metropolitan universities?
Very few would advocate for the latter, yet this is precisely the university system Australia has today. A system where the large and rich universities get larger and richer each year, at the expense of the small and the many. Australia has let the free market determine the shape, size, and strength of our public university system, virtually unopposed. As we have seen in other sectors, the over-concentration of resources to a select few has a limiting effect on consumer choice.
Today, we have the chance to fix this.
At present there is a Bill before Parliament that attempts to resolve this skewing of Australia’s tertiary education system. One that will enshrine student choice and opportunity through a managed system, and interrupt the ever-compounding concentration of enrolments.
More people should have the opportunity to go to university. Everyone agrees on this. The question is how to offer as much choice as possible to prospective students. The greater number of sustainable and high-quality universities there are, the greater the genuine choice for students.
Every aspiring student has a choice to make, a sliding doors moment, where they choose which university to apply to, and which offer to accept. This choice changes lives; it changes the fortunes of families and communities. This choice is the hallmark of Australia’s tertiary sector. This choice will remain under the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026.
One of the common myths being voiced about a managed system is that it would reduce the ability of students to choose where they study.
This is plainly false. The Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) will not be directing individual students. Students, just as they do now, will be free to apply to any university they wish, in any course they wish.
Under the proposed system, just as it has been under the current system, students will continue to rank their preferences for universities when applying to study.
Just as it was before, a university under the new system will decide whether to admit the student, or not. The student will not see any of the mechanics of the allocation of places; they will have the same experience they have now.
Currently, students do not always get their first choice; in other words, students are already used to a system of structured choice. Students accept their first, second, or third preference and they reap the benefits of that choice. A high-quality education with positive student experience and exceptional graduate outcomes.
Preserving student choice means preserving the ability of students who want to move for university, or for those who want – or need – to stay closer to home, to have equal access to high-quality education. A managed system is one that ensures there will be choice, for all.
Competition is not undermined by a managed system. Providers will still compete. Compete on offerings and curriculum. On mode of study. On integration with industry.
It is imperative that the public good value of higher education is not further undermined by perpetuating privilege and wealth while reducing choice. A continuation of a more marketised approach will only lead to further competition and concentration.
This Bill will not have a material impact on the operations of our largest universities. These universities will continue to grow, flourish and serve our national interests well. This Bill, however, will ensure that public funding will be better targeted through Needs-Based Funding to the students and communities who will need it most.
Decisions made today will shape the sector for the generation to come. Decisions today will either retain the status quo and further concentrate resources at large metropolitan universities ultimately reducing student choice, or open doors of opportunity to the students that will power Australia’s future economic prosperity.
Professor George Williams is the Chair of the 2050 Alliance and Vice-Chancellor of Western Sydney University.
Professor Chris Moran is the Chair of the Regional Universities Network and Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England.