I am thrilled to inform Central Coast Business Access Readers that Gosford’s Medical School and Research Institute is on-track to be open to students by mid-2021.
Some of you may have noticed the magnificent building for the Medical School and Research Institute that has been constructed over the last 24 months next to Gosford Hospital, across from the train station.
This has been a long-held dream for our community, so it’s fantastic to see the final touches and fit-out being completed.
With its unique position, right in the heart of Gosford, I have no doubt that this medical hub will create hundreds of local jobs and be a game-changer for our region.
Readers may recall in 2018 the Federal Government, in partnership with the University of Newcastle announced that the Gosford facility would educate up to 500 students for medical and allied health students administered by the University of Newcastle.
We’re building on this commitment by delivering an additional $25M for new students and short courses at the University of Newcastle.
The $25M will be shared across various campuses, including the University of Newcastle’s Central Coast campus over four years and will attract more students to Robertson, supporting the university as well as local jobs and businesses.
$9.9M to deliver short courses
The University of Newcastle will receive $15.3M in 2021 to deliver student places and $9.9M to deliver short courses.
The short courses allow Australians to study a course for six-months, to get a qualification in areas where we need more people - like teaching, agriculture, health, science, engineering, clinical psychology, IT and languages.
This means that the University of Newcastle will be helping Australians to gain the skills and qualifications needed to help drive our economic recovery from COVID-19.
This funding for additional student places at regional universities was part of the Morrison Government’s additional $586.6M to fund additional places for higher education through the 2020-21 Budget and Job-ready Graduates package.
We’ve created up to 30,000 additional university places nationwide for Australian students through our Budget funding and Job-ready Graduates package
The additional funding builds on the Government’s significant reductions to the cost of study in priority areas.
Under the Job-ready Graduates package we have seen a reduction in the cost of studying teaching and nursing by 42 per cent.
These additional places provide the perfect opportunity for our Central Coast students to develop the relevant skills for a career in industries that already exist on the Coast.
By offering more higher education opportunities locally we can retain our young people and attract more students to the Coast to study.
The Central Coast Medical School and Medical Research Institute is an $85M project jointly funded by the Federal and NSW State Government and the University of Newcastle at Gosford Hospital.
Our funding commitment will ensure that every Australian, no matter where they live, has access to Australia’s world-leading higher education system.
Lucy Wicks is Federal Member for Robertson.
