Opinion
Universities have become very good at counting students. I am not sure we are as good at understanding their lives.
Australia's equity framework has helped generations of people access tertiary education. On paper it is fair and sophisticated. It appropriately prioritises low socio-economic, First Nations, regional and remote students, and students with disability — recognising that talent is universal, and opportunity is often not.
But it needs a rethink for the next phase. Modern disadvantage in Australia is layered, complex and cumulative – a constellation of circumstances rarely experienced through a single lens. Intersectionality is everywhere.
Before we can effectively address the problem, we need confidence that we are identifying it accurately. Then we need to build deep understanding about individuals’ needs — or else they will just continue to fall through the cracks.
Frequently students may be the first in their family to attend university. They work long hours to support themselves, to care for family members, navigate insecure housing, or they might still be adjusting to life in a new country. Each challenge is significant in its own right.
Together, these barriers can create combined obstacles — to student aspiration, enrolment and graduation. Visibility of these barriers is crucial. Yet current equity policy settings mean that first-in-family students remain invisible.
We see this every day at Victoria University. More than 40 per cent of our students are the first in their family to undertake any post-secondary study—either at TAFE or university. Most arrive carrying serious responsibilities that extend well beyond the classroom, ranging from childcare and elder care to NDIS and cost-of-living commitments.
That is why our model of block learning and support matches talent with opportunity: with wraparound support and assessment processes designed around students’ needs.
What we are really talking about is not ‘equity’ but latent talent. Not policy categories, not funding buckets. Talent that exists in every suburb, every community and every family. Talent that can remain hidden if the pathways into education are too rigid or the structural barriers are too great.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in Australia's fast-growing outer metropolitan regions like in Melbourne’s West. Educational aspiration is abundant, but the barriers to participation and success can be complex, and attainment is below the state average.
Groups such as first-in-family learners, part-time students, caregivers, single parents or young people who have experienced periods outside education, employment or training (NEETs) are exactly who we should be talking about.
The first person in a family to complete tertiary education rarely changes just one life; they change many lives. Their loved ones know this—and they are so inspired by it. There is nothing to rival the moment when extended family members embrace after graduation ceremonies; when they post their pride at the pioneering achievement of their relatives. Everyone is so delighted to say ‘I am the first member of my family ever to do this—but I will not be the last’.
Many of the world's leading tertiary systems are asking this more sophisticated question: not just who is missing from higher education, but why.
In the US, first-generation students are widely recognised as a distinct equity cohort. Many Canadian institutions have developed dedicated pathways and supports for students who are the first in their family to attend university. England increasingly measures participation across a broad range of social indicators from eligibility for free school meals to ethnicity. New Zealand's reforms place significant emphasis on learner success (rather than access) and the circumstances that shape it, like wellbeing and belonging.
Without first-in-family students being counted—formally recognised and included—in the federal definition of equity, our system will always be imperfect. It will be flawed and partial. And it will leave people behind.
As the Universities Accord moves from aspiration to implementation, it should embrace first-in-family learners as a core category. The Australian Tertiary Education Commission and the federal department should focus on building a richer, more evidence-based understanding of latent ‘first learner’ talent. We simply have to invest in the models that turn individual potential into real achievement.
First-in-family equity inclusion is one of the key areas for policy action. The time is now.