Minister Barr: ACT opening discussions with UNSW Canberra for new campus
- Written by ACT Government
Released 15/08/2017
The ACT Government and the University of New South Wales Canberra will develop a Memorandum of Understanding to guide discussions on a possible major new campus for up to 10,000 students in Canberra.
It’s very exciting that after 50 years in the capital, UNSW Canberra has expressed an interest in expanding its role here. The proposed new campus would include student accommodation, research and teaching facilities, as part of an exciting new city east education precinct with a UNSW Canberra campus development alongside the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) Reid campus.
The city east precinct currently has undeveloped government land that has been earmarked for release in the near future. The CIT campus modernisation program also provides opportunities to redevelop parts of the existing site as CIT consolidates and improves its facilities.
The use of this site as an expanded education precinct fits well with the government’s strategy to revitalise Constitution Avenue and better connect the city to the lake.
The recent addition of UNSW Canberra engineering degrees to courses available in Canberra filled a gap in our higher education offerings and this further expansion is an opportunity to do more of the same - taking higher education in the city to the next level.
Growing the higher education sector is a fundamental part of our plan to diversify the territory economy and create new jobs.
That is why we have encouraged and supported growth at the Australian National University, University of Canberra and the Canberra Institute of Technology.
This progressive policy agenda has motivated UNSW Canberra to look to expand in Canberra, which is already recognised as one of the world’s leading education cities.
The Government intends to finalise the MoU with UNSW Canberra by the end of 2017, with more detailed planning and community engagement on project specifics to occur throughout 2018.
Canberra is already home to top ranking universities and research institutions including the Australian National University, the University of Canberra, UNSW Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy, the Australian Catholic University, Charles Sturt University, Data61, CSIRO and Geoscience Australia.
There is enormous potential for an expanded UNSW Canberra to collaborate with these institutions, boosting our city’s research capability and attracting more students.
The higher education sector is an extremely important contributor to our economy: $2.7 billion annually and delivering around 16,000 jobs.
International education is Canberra’s largest export, with 14,000 international students currently studying here. Per capita, we’re Australia’s largest exporters of international education.
- Statement ends -
Section: Andrew Barr, MLA | Media Releases
