Statement 1: Budget Overview (Continued)
Sustaining higher education growth
The Government's higher education reforms following the Bradley Review mean that Australian universities have and will continue to benefit from substantial increases in funding. There are now around an extra 149,000 Commonwealth supported university student places in 2013 compared to 2007. Commonwealth funding for university places has increased by 75 per cent between 2007 and 2013, from $3.5 billion in 2007 to $6.1 billion in 2013.
The Government is expanding on this significant investment in funding for university places. Funding of $97 million will be provided to increase the number of Commonwealth supported places in postgraduate and sub‑bachelor courses from 2014 to 2017. These places will be allocated by the Government to priority areas, including teacher education and language courses.
The Government has also increased investment in research funding to universities by 59 per cent since 2007‑08. In the Budget, the Government is providing $135.3 million for 150 four‑year Future Fellowships to attract and retain the best Australian and international mid‑career researchers in areas of crucial national importance.
Since 2007, the Government has funded $1.3 billion in national scale collaborative research infrastructure to further develop Australia's research capacity and improve innovation and research outcomes. Funding of $185.9 million over two years will be provided in this Budget to fund the operation of research infrastructure constructed under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Scheme and the Super Science Initiative. This infrastructure includes marine research vessels, biotechnology, supercomputing facilities and telescopes.
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