University barriers on forum agenda

Barriers hindering regional students' access to higher education will come under the spotlight next week at a Federal Government forum in Albany which aims to collect information to form a report outlining recommendations for change.

Federal Member for O'Connor Rick Wilson, Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment chairwoman Senator Bridget McKenzie and Department of Education and Training and Department of Social Services representatives will travel to Albany to host the forum, which will be held across 15 other sites in Australia.

Mr Wilson said DET and DSS had investigated barriers facing regional students to accessing higher education to produce an interim report, which had identified costs, socio-economic status, distance, school experience, preparedness and aspiration as major burdens.

In 2014, 75 per cent of students in the Great Southern deferred their university entrance, according to Tertiary Institutions Service Centre data.

"The numbers are fairly stark," Mr Wilson said.

"Twenty seven per cent of Australia's population live in regional Australia, but only 21 per cent of people in universities are from (the regions)," he said.

"There's a large gap between the number of young people in regional Australia who should be attending university that aren't.

"We want to give everybody the same opportunities that their city cousins have."

Mr Wilson said the final report would be presented to Minister for Education Christopher Pyne and Minister for Social Services Scott Morrison later this year.

The forum will be held at the City of Albany civic rooms from 10.30am on August 4.

Phone 9842 2777 to register.