New for 2027: ACSES Data Impact Grants scheme

Dear colleagues,

The Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (ACSES) is proud to launch our Data Impact Grants scheme—a new funding opportunity for high-impact, technically-focused projects that promise to deliver benefit across the higher education sector.

This scheme will support projects that generate practical outputs designed to be shared and translated nationwide, directly contributing to the quality, usability, consistency, accessibility, linkage, and interpretation of student equity data.

Applications for the 2027 pilot round are now open, with funding of up to $100,000 per project on offer.

Example project areas include, but are not limited to:

• training resources or micro-credentials for effective use of student equity data
• the design and piloting of national student surveys
• institutional equity data quality audit frameworks 
• the development and piloting of new measures for identifying equity student groups or educational disadvantage
• tertiary admissions student data harmonisation, with a focus on equity reporting
• data linkage projects addressing student equity evidence needs 
• open-source tools, dashboards, or technical resources for equity analysis. 

The Data Impact Grants scheme was developed to help practitioners, policymakers, and researchers make better use of student equity data across all facets of data collection and use.

We’re looking for projects that are practically usable and ready for sector-wide adoption or adaptation, with clearly identified intended end users and equity group beneficiaries.

Applications close on Friday, 22 January 2027.

For more information, the Data Impact Grants Guidelines 2027 and Application Pack are now available on the ACSES website.

Kind regards,

Associate Professor Gemma Cadby
Data Program Director
Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success

New Data Insights Series report examines latest enrolment figures

A new ACSES Data Insights Series report examines recent trends in domestic higher education enrolments and assesses progress towards the Australian Universities Accord’s target of equity parity by 2050.

Drawing on the latest verified data from the Australian Government Department of Education, the report tracks changes in enrolment headcount and equity participation at institutions nationwide from 2021 to 2024.

It found domestic undergraduate enrolments fell by nearly 56,000 during the four-year period, with the biggest drops recorded among students from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds and regional and remote areas. Low SES and regional/remote students saw larger proportional declines (9–10%) than the sector overall (7%), indicating existing participation gaps may be widening.

In a more positive sign, domestic enrolments of students with disability increased by more than 21% during the same period. In addition, preliminary data released by the Department last week indicated overall domestic enrolments rebounded in 2025 and 2026.

Read the full report here: Equity participation targets and sector growth: How are we tracking between 2021 and 2024?

Interactive Tool update: New QILT SES data now available

We’ve updated our Interactive Data Tool with results from the 2025 Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) Student Experience Survey.

Using the latest available data, the tool allows users to explore institution-level trends among domestic undergraduate students by equity group, providing insights that aren’t publicly available anywhere else.

It’s also useful for benchmarking distinct student cohorts, revealing differences that averages across the sector can hide.

The Student Experience Survey is conducted annually and includes questions covering a broad range of satisfaction ratings, as well as the negative effects of financial circumstances, living arrangements, and paid work on study.

If you work with student equity, planning, or performance data, this update will help you better understand the lived experience of students across Australia’s higher education sector.

View the Interactive Data Tool here.

2026 Equity Frontiers Forum recording now on YouTube

A full recording of ACSES’s Living the Learning Loop: 2026 Equity Frontiers Forum is now available on YouTube.

Held on 14 October, this online event brought together equity practitioners working in Australia’s higher education sector to share practical experience and learnings from the past year of delivering quantitative impact evaluations of equity initiatives.

It featured presentations from The University of Western Australia, Deakin University, and Charles Darwin University, delivered by guest speakers Elisa McGowan, Dr Nadine Zacharias, and Katie Douglas; George Lambrinidis, Jillianne Segura, and Dr Patricia Vermillion Peirce; and Nathan Coffey.

The guest speakers also took part in a Q&A panel discussion, followed by the final presentation of the day delivered by our own Dr Patrick Broman and Dr Gwyneth Peaty.

Watch the recording here.

Register for our public lecture with Professor John McKendrick 

Join us this November for a public lecture with Scottish Commissioner for Fair Access, Professor John H. McKendrick, at Curtin University's Bentley Campus.

Professor McKendrick, an ACSES Visiting Scholar from Glasgow Caledonian University, will present on the topic: "What relevance to Australia of fair access to higher education in Scotland: Lessons to learn, progress delivered, but much more to do".

This in-person lecture will be followed by light refreshments and an informal networking opportunity. 
 
📆 Tuesday, 17 November 2026
⏰ 3:00pm–5:00pm AWST
📍 Curtin University, Bentley Campus
🔗 Register here.

We're hiring!

Events Coordinator

ACSES is seeking an experienced Events Coordinator to join our friendly team based at Curtin University in Perth.

You’ll be responsible for planning and coordinating in-person, online, and hybrid events from concept to completion and post-event evaluation.

If you’re a highly organised, adaptable, and detail-oriented events professional with strong interpersonal and written communications skills, we’d love to hear from you.

Applications close at 8pm (AWST) on Sunday, 8 November 2026. Learn more about the role and apply here.

Project Coordinator / Evidence Synthesis and Research Coordinator

ACSES is looking for a Project Coordinator / Evidence Synthesis and Research Coordinator to join our Trials & Evaluation Program.

You'll play a key role in supporting impactful evidence synthesis and research translation projects that inform practice, strengthen evaluation, and help drive meaningful outcomes for students.

If you have project coordination experience and excellent organisational skills, we want to hear from you.

Applications close at 8pm (AWST) on Tuesday, 3 November 2026. Learn more about the role and apply here.

ACSES in the news

• Perth private school principal sounds alarm on state's declining ATAR exam numbers, ABC
• Equity Enrolments Slump, Future Campus
• A head-start for equity: Evidence of the contribution of enabling education to student retention, Needed Now in Learning and Teaching
• New Model Targets Rural Disadvantage, Future Campus
• What Should an Engineering Open Day Really Show Students?, Engineering Institute of Technology
• New data reveals international students now make up almost one in three tertiary students in Australia, Herald Sun
• AI Is Reshaping How Australian Universities Teach, Education Daily