Similar to a growing number of Australians, Melissa Schenck thought she would never have the security of a career. Across two decades, she went from one casual job to the next while rearing five children.
Schenck now is enrolled in a social work degree at the University of South Australia鈥檚 Whyalla campus 鈥 the first in her family to study at university.
It鈥檚 her path to a more secure future for her family.
Almost half a continent away, Karlie Noon is a young Kamilaroi woman who grew up near Tamworth. She missed most of primary school, but has ended up being the first in her family to go to university, despite having a low Australian Tertiary Admission Rank.
Noon went on to be the first 颅indigenous woman to gain a double degree in maths and science in NSW when she graduated from the University of Newcastle. She is now a masters student and 颅researcher in astronomy and astrophysics at the Australian 颅National University.
This is Australian talent being unearthed and unleashed 鈥 and there are thousands more stories like these on campuses right around Australia.
Schenck and Noon are top of mind as I step into the role of chief executive of 黑料老司机. I want their stories repeated, every day. They are among the tens of thousands of people given the opportunity of a higher education since Australia uncapped university places from 2009.
But they are also the kind of people who could miss out following the present government鈥檚 funding freeze, cutting $2.1 billion from universities.
To be clear, the freeze reduces the number of commonwealth-supported places a university can offer each year from now on.
Every university around the nation has fewer funded places, regardless of whether you are in an area of significant population growth or serious skills shortage.
Uncapped university places 鈥 the 颅demand-driven system 鈥 have opened the doors to 50,000 more people from poorer backgrounds and allowed them to get a university education.
Since 2009, the number of regional and rural students has increased by 48 per cent, while the number of indigenous students has risen by 89 per cent.
Students with a disability are up by 106 per cent.
That鈥檚 a significant achievement and one we should celebrate. But there鈥檚 still a long way to go.
Those living in regional Australia are half as likely to have a university 颅degree as their city counterparts.
Take the yawning gulf in 颅opportunity when you compare northern Sydney with the Hunter Valley. More than 60 per cent of young people in the north of Sydney have a university qualification, but just two hours up the road it鈥檚 only 14 per cent.
We鈥檙e not saying every Australian should go to university. But everyone with the talent and 颅interest should have the opportunity to go, and that鈥檚 what 颅an 颅uncapped system has provided.
This is not just about fairness for individuals. Our economy and prosperity depend on the skills and benefits gained from univer颅sity study.
We know the workplace is changing, and fast. The rise of 颅artificial intelligence and automation is already reshaping 颅nearly every industry and, with it, nearly every job. In the US, 99 per cent of jobs created since the global financial crisis have required a tertiary 颅education.
In Australia, the government predicts that more than 90 per cent of the 948,000 new jobs 颅expected to be created by 2022 will require a post-school qualification. Each additional graduate in the economy brings $471,000 extra to Australia鈥檚 gross domestic product and $152,000 to the government鈥檚 tax take across 20 years.
At a La Trobe University alumni breakfast last year, I heard 颅directly from former trade minister Andrew Robb about what that opportunity meant.
As one of nine kids, reared in 颅regional Victoria, he was a solid C student at school and didn鈥檛 have wide-ranging ambitions. But he was determined to prove that kids from regional backgrounds could do anything.
He started his university study in economics. He got the bug 鈥 the bug of thinking critically about complex issues, looking at them from every angle, and the excitement of working with great teachers to crack a problem open.
He experienced the intense satisfaction when you exceed your own expectations, when you finally know you are just as capable as the students sitting either side of you.
University gave him 鈥渢he confidence, the critical mind, the self-esteem鈥 that drove him on to front the National Farmers Federation, to serve as Liberal Party federal 颅director and, later, in an act of great courage, to admit and document publicly the depression that had dogged him from the age of 12.
When he went to university, 颅Robb was one of a far smaller group of Australians able to take up the transformative 颅opportunity.
Fast-forward several decades. Schenck and Noon remind us that this same opportunity has been extended to tens of thousands more Australians.
We should never lose sight of the powerful personal stories made possible by opening up the nation鈥檚 university system. It will remain my focus in my new role.
Catriona Jackson is chief executive-designate of 黑料老司机.
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