by Amy Persson
Education is a fundamental human right, and universities have a responsibility to ensure it is accessible to all. This is more pressing than ever given the Universities Accord projects doubling university places to 1.8 million annually by 2050.
Achieving this means breaking down barriers and creating opportunity for those who have been historically excluded.
Over the weekend we saw Australia emphatically repudiate the politics of fear and division. Now is the time for bold action and a partnership approach – Government policy needs to support efforts to open doors to historically underrepresented students and universities need to deliver.
University management are often dismissed as living in ivory – or in the case of UTS, brutalist – towers. But we are not just institutions of learning and research – we are service providers with a duty to serve students and communities. Our work must be grounded in the real-world, including challenges students face. This means confronting systemic barriers and rethinking how we define academic merit, moving beyond ATAR rankings and finding new ways to identify potential.
Students from low-socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds, regional communities, First Nations communities, and students with disabilities are often at a disadvantage due to disparities in educational resources and support. Without deliberate intervention, disadvantages persist. We saw this play out in the aftermath of the Bradley Review: the demand-driven system was expected to increase participation among these cohorts, but it failed to deliver.
There is a dangerous misconception that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts dilute academic excellence. This could not be further from the truth. Diversity fuels excellence. It fosters innovation, creativity, and resilience. It makes us stronger, not weaker. Equity and excellence are not competing forces – they are two sides of the same coin.
We know we can broaden our student base while maintaining the highest standards of excellence, and while putting students first because we’ve already done it. UTS has some of the highest success rates for students from low-SES backgrounds, currently sitting at 90 per cent, far exceeding the sector average of 82.45 per cent. This tells us that when students are given the chance, they excel. The barriers are not about ability, they are about opportunity.
Universities have the power to be engines of social mobility, but only if we actively create pathways for those who have been locked out.
The future of university admissions must be one where talent is recognised in all its forms, potential is nurtured, and systemic barriers are dismantled, not reinforced. Schemes such as UTS’s Pathways Plan – a sector-first initiative to drive systemic change by offering entry routes for students from diverse backgrounds – is a step toward that future, but it is not the final step.
We intend to set a new benchmark for what higher education can and should be. We are not alone in our journey but the whole sector is stronger when we collaborate to create a brighter future for all young Australians. The second-term Albanese Government will hopefully play a critical role in delivering this future.
Amy Persson is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Social Justice and Inclusion) at the University of Technology Sydney.