Education should be seen as a major lever to drive economic development in regional Australia. Issues, policy and funding around school education and transition to work or further education should not be seen in isolation from other issues around regional economic development.

Regional adaptation and development could be improved by better harnessing regional universities through the formal recognition of the institutions in regional development policy, including in place-based policy and programs, such as in the UK’s City Deals or European Smart Specialisations.

A small proportion of Australia’s universities, such as RUN’s members, do the ‘heavy lifting’ in terms of providing access to students from low SES backgrounds.

Structural, socio-cultural, economic and demographic factors that powerfully drive trends around retention and completion impact on regional universities very strongly, and in ways that differ from metropolitan institutions.

Compared with urban universities, any cut to the Commonwealth Grant Scheme would impact relatively more on regional universities and on what they can provide for regional students and communities.