Highlights from The Australian Student Equity Symposium

SPERA’s Chris Ronan and Natalie Nelmes attended the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success, ‘Student Equity in an Era of Change 2025: The Australian Student Equity Symposium’ in September. 

The Symposium focused on student equity in this era of change, commencing with the perspectives of higher education students with a diversity of backgrounds. It also offered panels on everything from funding, AI and data to pathways, and, of particular interest to SPERA members, regional students. 

Natalie was a panel member on the “What works for regional student outcomes”, highlighting the role the Regional University Study Hubs play in supporting regional students to succeed and provided insights from her own centre in Geraldton. 

The importance of place-based support for regional students was highlighted across the panel.

Awards were also presented at the Symposium dinner, with the Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement award going to the Eastern Australian Regional University Centre Partnership for expanding pathways to higher education for regional students using co-design and community-first approaches.