Universities across Australia now have a blueprint to deliver free university pathway programs, following the launch today of national policy recommendations and a guidebook developed by the University of Newcastle.
Launching the resources at the University of Newcastle's Central Coast Campus today, Federal Minister for Education the Hon Jason Clare MP said they marked an important step toward the Government's goal of having 80 per cent of the workforce holding tertiary qualifications by 2050.
"The Universities Accord says that by 2050, 80 per cent of the workforce will need a tertiary qualification. The only way to hit that target is to help more people go to TAFE and university," Minister Clare said.
"These free bridging courses are part of that. They give you the skills you need to succeed when you get to university. The University of Newcastle is doing a great job of that.
"This is all about breaking down that invisible barrier that stops a lot of people getting to uni. It's not just a free course. It changes lives."
In 2025, the Australian Government commissioned the University of Newcastle to deliver the National FEE‑FREE Uni Ready Project, producing a national policy report and a best-practice guide for other universities to implement their own FEE-FREE programs.
University of Newcastle Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alex Zelinsky AO, said the University welcomed the opportunity to share its experience with government and the higher education sector.
"We're incredibly proud of our sector-leading pathway programs, which have supported more than 70,000 students from diverse backgrounds to access higher education over more than 50 years," Professor Zelinsky said.
"People from all walks of life can succeed at university when the right settings are in place. Sharing what we've learnt, and contributing to a national approach that expands opportunity, is an important part of that work."
The framework and best-practice guide were developed in partnership with the Australian Tertiary Education Commission and in collaboration with 13 universities, with the practical, evidence-based approach already being taken up across the sector as institutions expand their own FEE FREE Uni Ready offerings.
The Government's Fee Free University initiative is expected to increase student participation by 40 per cent by 2030 and double enrolments by 2040. By 2030, an estimated 30,000 students each year are expected to be studying in Fee Free Uni Ready courses nationwide.
Case Study
Carley Pringle, a proud Kamilaroi woman who grew up on Darkinjung Country considered leaving school halfway through year 12 and had never considered that university could be a possibility for her until she started a FEE-FREE pathway program while still in high school.
She later transitioned to the University of Newcastle's Yapug, a program delivered in partnership with The Wollotuka Institute that's designed to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people gain skills and entry into undergraduate degrees at the university.
"I honestly just wouldn't have gone for it if it wasn't fee free. I don't think university would've been accessible for me. Because it was fee free, I felt like I had nothing to lose. I could try, and if I failed, it wasn't that big financial pressure hanging over me," Carley said.
Carley also credits the program for helping her to gain the foundational skills to succeed at university and for showing her family that university was a possibility for them too.
"Doing the fee free pathway set me up so much better for my degree. I got to learn how uni actually works before jumping straight into undergrad.
"No-one in my family has been to university before. But now that my sister and my nephew have seen that it's possible, my sister went to TAFE and is now studying Nuclear Medicine Radiation and my nephew says he wants to go to uni and become a doctor. If I hadn't done a fee free program, I wouldn't be here, and my sister or my nephew wouldn't be thinking this way."
Carley is now in her third year of a double degree Bachelor of Criminology and Psychological Science and hopes do honours before becoming a clinical psychologist in a forensic setting, working with Indigenous youth in juvenile centres.
About FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses
FEE-FREE Uni Ready (FFUR) courses provide students with preparatory studies to gain the skills they need to get into university, without being out of pocket. FFUR courses are designed to support educationally disadvantaged students who are often underrepresented in higher education, particularly those from regional areas, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and students with disability. To download the resources, visit https://feefreeuniready.edu.au
