Suburban university students to get free access to study hubs

University and TAFE students living in outer metropolitan suburbs will be able to use free facilities at government-run study hubs from 2025. See where they’ll be.

Suburban study hubs will give university and TAFE students free access to computers, internet and academic support.

Suburban university and TAFE students will have access to new “study hubs’’ with free access to computers, high-speed internet and academic support.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare will announce the first 10 hub locations on Saturday.

They will be in Broadmeadows, Epping and Melton in Victoria, at Macquarie Fields and Kurri Kurri in NSW, Armadale, Ellenbrook and Mandurah in Western Australia, Strathpine in Brisbane, Sorrell in Tasmania and Elizabeth in South Australia.

TAFE students will also be encouraged to attend the study hubs, which target areas with low university attainment rates.

The Albanese government has already opened 46 regional study hubs, with another five due to open from the first semester next year, and 10 more to be announced early in 2025.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the hubs would help students living in outer suburbs to finish their degrees and TAFE courses.

They will provide computers, high-speed internet and study spaces, as well as in-person ­administrative, academic and wellbeing support to help students with their study, regardless of which university or TAFE they attend.

“I know growing up in western Sydney, a lot of my friends felt like university was somewhere else, for someone else,’’ Mr Clare said.

“I want this to change, and that means bringing university closer to where people live.’’

Assistant Minister for Education and Regional Development, senator Anthony Chisholm, said 4500 students ware already using the regional study hubs.

“Now we’re bringing them to some of our fastest growing suburban areas,’’ he said.

“They will give students living in our outer suburbs a place to focus on their studies, saving them from needing to commute or move away from their families and into our city centres.’’

The hubs will cost $67m a year once they are all operational by the middle of next year.

The extra support for domestic students coincides with the government’s plan to cap the number of foreign students studying in Australia to 270,000 next year.