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Welcome to the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success

The Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success acknowledges Indigenous peoples across Australia as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which the nation’s campuses are situated. With a history spanning more than 60,000 years as the original educators, Indigenous peoples hold a unique place in our nation. We recognise the importance of their knowledge and culture, and reflect the principles of participation, equity, and cultural respect in our work. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future, and consider it an honour to learn from our Indigenous colleagues, partners, and friends.

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You are reading: ACSES 2025 Annual Report

Message from the Executive Director

Professor Shamit Saggar

If 2024 was a year of renewal, 2025 was when the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success (ACSES) cemented its status as a nation-leading research and policy centre.

Throughout the year, ACSES was front and centre in national higher education policy discussions, building on its reputation as a trusted source of advice for policymakers and university leaders.

The Centre increased its visibility through innovative new initiatives such as our trials program, sector-leading data products, and impactful research. All of this resulted in high-profile national and international media coverage and record growth in digital engagement.

In addition, in just two years, the ACSES Policy Symposium has established itself as a key annual gathering of sector leaders for exploring transformative policy and practice that drives meaningful change for underrepresented students, and we look forward to growing this event further in coming years.

After contributing to the landmark Australian Universities Accord Review, ACSES has supported the implementation of its key recommendations in 2025—including the formation of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC)—and we look forward to working with the Commission to further the goal of widening student participation and achievement.

As we move into 2026, equity will retain its prominence in Australian higher education, and ACSES is firmly positioned to continue generating thought-leading research while supporting impactful policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners, stakeholders, and the entire ACSES team for their dedication as we continue working together to make higher education fairer and more equitable for all.

ASCES 2025 Annual Report Summary

The 2025 Annual Report Summary provides an overview of the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success’s key achievements, impact, programs, and growth in 2025 as a national What Works Centre for student equity.

 

The full ACSES 2025 Annual Report and the ACSES 2025 Annual Report Summary are available to download below.

Download the full report:
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ACSES-2025-Annual-Report-Summary.pdf
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General Annual reports
Download the full report
ACSES 2025 Annual Report
ACSES, 2026
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A Small Grants Research Program final report. The study provides insight into the pathways and approaches to university by First Nations students and the role that a university centre designed specifically to support First Nations students can have on building success for students.
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The Intersection of Geography, Topography and Mindset
Susan Webb, Reshmi Lahiri-Roy, Elizabeth Knight, Paul Koshy ​ , 2024
A Nuanced Understanding of Regional, Rural and Remote Students’ Tertiary Participation in Australia.
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Increasing access and opportunity: Nesting enabling programs in senior schooling
A Jones, F Navin, S Dhondea-Tenakov, J Lisciandro, J Nieuwoudt, A Maclaurin, F Ramos, S Attree, and M Howie​ , 2026
A Large Grants Research Program final report. The project is the first national, cross-institutional benchmarking and impact study of in-school enabling programs in Australia, examining models and outcomes with a focus on impact for equity groups.
General / all students
Research Reports
Student’s reported satisfaction at University: the role of personal characteristics and secondary school background
Ian W. Li, Denise Jackson, Paul Koshy ​ , 2024
This study addressed this topic in the Australian context using data from the annual Student Experience Survey (2016–2020 waves) with linkage to administrative records for 24,292 students from seven higher education institutions.
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