CQUniversity Cairns CBD campus could host 6000 students with extra ‘health and engineering’ wing
A Queensland university is seeking an additional $27.5m in federal funds as it prepares to start building a new campus despite the funding shortfall.
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A Queensland university is seeking an additional $27.5m in federal election commitments as it prepares to start building a new campus despite a funding shortfall.
Construction will start on CQUniversity’s new Cairns CBD campus near the Convention Centre later this year, expected to be completed by late 2027 and ready for term 1, 2028.
Making the funding request in Cairns on Wednesday, Vice-Chancellor Professor Nick Klomp said the university was seeking the extra cash to expand the new campus, before it was built, after realising additional course demand during planning studies.
The university received a $50m federal government commitment during the 2022 election, with part of that money released towards the first stage of construction.
Professor Klomp confirmed the original concept for the CBD campus from 2022 could still be delivered for $50m, but an additional $37.5m including $27.5m from the government and $10m CQU contribution would help meet new student demand identified, particularly in health and engineering.
“We have uncovered an opportunity for Cairns and that is instead of allowing for a capacity of 4000 students, we could add (an extra) wing and we’re calling it the health and engineering wing because it’s those areas (of the workforce) so desperately required in this region,” he said.
Professor Klomp said the additional wing could be built in the same time frame as the original concept, but would help expand enrolments to almost 6000 students, and provide the confidence required to start its Bachelor of Medical Imaging in 2026 instead of 2028.
Without the additional $37.5m investment, the university would be expanding from 2000 to 4000 students.
He said the growing workforce demands realised in the allied health space “came from the government’s own work” including industry surveys and reports.
“It makes so much more sense for a number of reasons, not least because it’s so much more efficient to be building something at the same time than be doing it later, but more importantly, we need these graduates now and Cairns shouldn’t be forced to wait again and again,” he said.
“We know that workforce shortages are a critical issue for our healthcare sector and we believe that delivering an additional wing to the new campus is an investment in workforce sustainability.”
Professor Klomp said the campus would bring with it 13 new courses, mostly in allied health but the university was “working with industries” to monitor workforce needs.
With recent calls for universities to better cater for student accommodation and alleviate pressure on the housing market, Professor Klomp said about 96 per cent of CQU’s Cairns enrolments were Far North locals, already residing in the region.
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Originally published as CQUniversity Cairns CBD campus could host 6000 students with extra ‘health and engineering’ wing
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