CQUniversity has been praised in Federal Parliament for working with its communities to understand and respond to regional skills demands.

MP Kirsten Livermore commended the University's efforts and results during the June Parliamentary sittings.

The University's push to become 'dual sector' was especially encouraged to provide greater opportunities within a region with lower than average participation in tertiary education.

Member for Capricornia Kirsten Livermore

Vice-Chancellor Professor Scott Bowman said it is always gratifying to see the University's hard work and persistence recognised in Parliament by local MPs like Kirsten Livermore, with whom the University enjoys a very productive working relationship.

"We are proud of the remarkable achievements this University has made in such a short period of time, and it's great to see that our Parliamentarians are as proud of our efforts as we are," Professor Bowman said.

Member for Capricornia Ms Livermore noted the University's rapid enrolment growth and large number of new courses - including law, medical imaging, sonography, financial planning, engineering management and paramedic training, with planning underway for further courses in allied health and oral health.

"It is great to know that local people can finally obtain these qualifications without leaving Central Queensland. It makes their education so much more affordable and makes it much more likely that they will remain and pursue their career in the region, which has traditionally struggled to fill many professional positions."

The federal MP praised CQUniversity for being strategic and flexible.

"That is obvious in its plan to become Queensland's first dual sector university preferably through an amalgamation with the CQ Institute of TAFE. There is enormous support for this initiative and plans are progressing, so I hope the University gets the go-ahead from the Queensland government very soon. The dual sector proposal is driven by the same goal that this government has - opening the door to tertiary education to as many people as possible.

"CQUniversity sees the TAFE amalgamation as one way of boosting participation by making university qualifications more accessible, more flexible and more relevant to the people in our region. Because of the low rate of participation in tertiary education in Central Queensland and the current skills shortages across the region, our local university has a great opportunity to tailor its course offerings and expand the number of students it enrols. CQUniversity really stands to benefit from the demand driven funding model in this bill and the evidence so far shows that it is doing all the right things to make that happen."

Ms Livermore was enthusiastic about significant investment in new and upgraded facilities across the University's campuses.

"In total there is $50 million worth of infrastructure works underway, which is a fantastic investment in the future of the University and which gives substance to its claim to be an essential partner in the development that is taking place in the Central Queensland region," she said.

The Hansard link to Kirsten Livermore's speech on the Higher Education Support Amendment (Demand Driven Funding System and Other Measures) Bill 2011 can be found on page 48 of this Hansard doc, Thursday June 23 2011: http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/reps/dailys/dr230611.pdf