Page 962 - Week 03 - Thursday, 19 March 2015
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Complementing this research, further work undertaken by Deloitte this year found that the sector in total—higher education and research in total, adding the University of New South Wales Canberra, the Australian Catholic University, Charles Sturt University and research institutes such as CSIRO, NICTA and Geoscience Australia together—adds some $2.6 billion to the ACT economy each year, generating 16,000 full-time equivalent jobs. Over $800 million of this economic contribution to the ACT economy and the creation of just over 6,000 full-time equivalent jobs could be identified as coming from international and interstate students. The report notes that the ANU, for example, is planning to increase its international student numbers from approximately 6,600 in 2014 to over 11,800 by 2024. This will have massive flow-on benefits for the ACT economy.
Ms Porter has outlined some of the actions that the ACT government is taking to support our own university, the University of Canberra, to build a sustainable and diverse funding base to allow the University of Canberra to maintain and enhance its reputation for providing high quality student experiences. I will not repeat all of these actions in detail, but I note that by removing undue impediments to the university’s development and its governance we are paving the way for the University of Canberra to achieve its vision. The aim here is to foster $1 billion in new projects across campus which will be a major draw for Australian and the world’s students, research organisations and companies. We are taking these steps in partnership with the university because that is how a professional and forward-thinking government acts to support a vital part of our education system.
This afternoon I would like to take the opportunity to briefly mention some of the other practical steps the ACT government is taking to support the growth of our higher education sector. We have created “study Canberra” to promote Canberra as Australia’s higher education destination of choice. We have funded the first Centenary Chair of Cancer Research at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, a $20 million boost to ACT cancer services. We have worked in partnership with the ANU to develop City West, to provide an innovation and social bridge between the university and Canberra’s western CBD edge. We have committed over $30 million to the development of NICTA and established with NICTA the e-health living lab at the University of Canberra.
This support and collaborative effort are one reason why the ANU, NICTA, CSIRO, the University of Canberra and the University of New South Wales Canberra all signed on as foundation members of the CBR Innovation Network. During this time, and with the financial support and efforts of its members, the network will become a leader in driving the strategic approach to innovation and diversification of our economy and is reaching out to big and small groups across the ACT. The innovation network is a first for Australia. It makes the ACT the leader in innovation policy and program delivery in this country.
Our higher education and research institutions are looking to translate their existing research and academic knowledge into commercial opportunities through the development of a series of innovation hubs at Mount Stromlo, the sports technology and health precincts at Bruce, a renewable energy hub being built through the
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