Adelaide University in 2026

Friday November 24, 2023

REGIONAL students studying at either the University of Adelaide or the University of South Australia will continue to have their needs met as the official merger was announced last week.

Legislation to facilitate the creation of the two universities - which will be known as Adelaide University - passed the state government last week.

The new institution is expected to open in 2026 and by 2034, Adelaide University is expected to contribute an additional $500 million annually to the state's economy and educate more than 70,000 students.

The state government has committed to invest a $200m research fund and a $120m student support fund to assist students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds and the regions access higher education.

Deputy Premier Susan Close said a portion of the fund would be specifically for regional areas with the government ensuring the university would be responsible to the needs of regional students.

"We have gone out of our way legislatively to make sure the new university will be responsive to the needs of regional students and also the universities themselves have committed to that in every public statement they have made," Ms Close said.

"The new university will have special funds allocated to support students from regions and commitment to remaining in the regions but also because it will be bigger and because it has an ambition to teach more students inevitably more regional students will be supported."

Ms Close said the university would be a large educator of students while also remaining very strong in research.

"That will help everybody in South Australia because the more we have people being educated and the better research we have, the stronger institute state specifically for regional students," she said.

University of South Australia vice chancellor David Lloyd said the merger was the beginning of something new with a lot of work to be done between now and 2026 when it was projected to be open.

"When we open it will also have a lot to do with the reconfiguration or the curriculum for our team and that is going to be built in a way which allows us to be accessible both face-toface and worldwide," Mr Lloyd said.

"This merger will mean Mount Gambier students will be able to access more online content with a lot more moderate content.

"The way in which we currently teach students is we have got the core programs on the ground but we also have the facility itself as a means for students to access online education."

Mr Lloyd said it was expected there would be "far greater choice" and a "greater number of online programs or courses" available from the university which would then allow people to "learn at their own pace" while working part time if they wanted to.

University of Adelaide vice chancellor Peter Hoj agreed with Mr Lloyd stating the university was already involved in the South East indirectly through courses such as veterinary science.

"A lot of our students have to be placed into practice for large animals and we have students going to the South East and they are embedded there," Mr Hoj said.

"Along with our strong viticultural and winemaking education and practice, we have a lot to do with the region."

He said the future of the university merger would allow for more people from the region to study online with a "hybrid of opportunities" for intensive face-to-face courses in either Mount Gambier/Berrin or Adelaide.

Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell welcomed the change but said now there was need for the expansion of local services.

"I want to see a greater range of courses available that will allow more local students to stay at home and attract new students from other regions to move to Mount Gambier to study," Mr Bell said.

"All regional students, regardless of background, are disadvantaged compared to their city counterparts.

"We need to give them every opportunity to overcome the barriers preventing them from attending higher education and I will be advocating the new Adelaide University to increase its investment in regional education."

Shadow Minister for Education John Gardner said he was pleased to secure the reassurances from the vice chancellors regarding the Mount Gambier/Berrin campus and the opposition was confident that should there be any changes to the campus it would be in Mount Gambier/Berrin's favour.

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