Publications

July 3, 2026

Growth through Equity: From the Universities Accord to Implementation

By Dr Nadine Zacharias, Equity by Design.

Executive Summary

The Australian Government’s target of 80% of the working-age population holding a tertiary education qualification by 2050 will only be achieved if participation by students from under-represented groups increases significantly.

The introduction of the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill into Parliament would see the implementation of a new Managed Growth Funding system for universities, along with Needs-based Funding, designed to target public investment to where it is most needed to achieve these long-term goals for increased participation and equity.

The proposed managed demand-driven system for equity places is very different to the previous demand-driven system in the 2010s. Understanding these differences is critical to effective implementation in 2026 to put us on the right path to meet our 2050 goal. This paper examines the history of student equity policy and programs to inform the implementation of the new managed system that can put students first and achieve Growth through Equity.

The paper provides a framework for assessing the effectiveness of student equity policy, based on five key prerequisites: Aspiration, Academic achievement, Availability of places, Accessibility and Affordability. This framework helps to identify and manage policy trade-offs (for example, between collaboration and competition) to ensure that the new policy framework succeeds.

Key recommendations:

Take a student-centric approach, with the allocation of demand-driven places as frictionless as possible for students and managed through existing mechanisms (Mission-Based Compacts and TACs).
Link Outreach and Needs-based Funding, with institutions retaining the flexibility to target investment to the areas of greatest need, to build aspiration and the pipeline for future tertiary study.
Establish clear links between national-level goals for participation and equity and the contextualised targets set in Mission-Based Compacts, preserving flexibility for each university to focus on the distinct needs of its community (for example, to go beyond existing equity categories) while also supporting accountability for outcomes.
Urgently address affordability, both in terms of fairer student contributions and increased income support.

Read the full report.

The 2050 Alliance recognises Indigenous peoples across Australia as the traditional owners of the unceded lands upon which our campuses sit today. Indigenous peoples are our first educators and innovators, with long-held philosophies of Country. As institutions of knowledge, our universities are proud to play a role in continuing this tradition.

We believe that education and research play an important role in reconciliation, recognition, justice and Indigenous advancement. Through our strategy, we will prioritise work to advance participation, equity and cultural respect, and we will reflect this in our contributions to public policy.