{"id":29671,"date":"2025-11-14T09:02:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T01:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/?post_type=media-release&p=29671"},"modified":"2025-11-14T09:02:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T01:02:22","slug":"federal-minister-calls-for-fairer-education-system-for-all-in-john-curtin-speech","status":"publish","type":"media-release","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/media-release\/federal-minister-calls-for-fairer-education-system-for-all-in-john-curtin-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Minister calls for fairer education system for all in John Curtin speech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has highlighted the scale of reform needed to prepare Australia\u2019s education system for the future workforce – and the vitally important role universities will play in achieving it – at the John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library (JCPML) Anniversary Lecture<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commemorating 80 years since Prime Minister John Curtin\u2019s passing, Minister Clare\u2019s wide-ranging Looking Ever Forward<\/em><\/a> speech reaffirmed the enduring power of education to drive social and economic change and the ongoing need to continue making higher education accessible to more people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minister Clare said this wasn\u2019t just the right thing to do; it was necessary for Australia\u2019s future, noting 80 per cent of jobs will require a TAFE qualification or a university degree by 2050, compared to 60 per cent today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a big jump and we\u2019re not going to hit that target easily. This must happen in our outer suburbs and regions and among families who haven\u2019t traditionally seen university as an option,\u201d Minister Claire said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is critical to break down the invisible barrier that still makes many Australians feel like university is somewhere else for someone else. That means reforming the whole education system so its connected and based on need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Minister Clare said John Curtin\u2019s guiding words – that a university \u201cshould find its heroes in the present, its hope in the future\u201d – continue to serve as a compass for Australian education policy.

\u201cGreat universities are not just about the past, they are about the future,\u201d Minister Clare said.

\u201cThey don\u2019t just focus on today\u2019s problems; they anticipate and solve the ones that lie ahead. They are not a place of privilege, but a place of opportunity for everyone.\u201d

Curtin University Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne<\/a> said the Minister\u2019s remarks captured the spirit of John Curtin\u2019s enduring message – one that remains central to the University\u2019s mission.

\u201cAt Curtin, we see the impact of education every day and how it changes the trajectory of lives, families and communities,\u201d Professor Hayne said.

\u201cEighty years on from his passing, John Curtin\u2019s message to \u2018look ever forward\u2019 remains vital as Australia plans for the workforce of tomorrow and it\u2019s a challenge we gladly accept every day.

\u201cI would like to thank Minister Clare for delivering this year\u2019s JCPML Anniversary Lecture and for his thoughtful reflections on the legacy of John Curtin and the future of higher education. It was a tour-du-force of history, literature, and political inspiration\u201d

Held annually, the John Curtin Anniversary Lecture commemorates the life of John Curtin, providing an opportunity for a thought leader of our time to reflect on the enduring legacy of John Curtin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous presenters include former prime ministers Gough Whitlam, Paul Keating, Malcolm Fraser and Julia Gillard.

This year\u2019s Lecture marked not only 80 years since John Curtin\u2019s passing but also the 80th Anniversary of the end of World War II.

It was held on another momentous date \u2013 Remembrance Day \u2013 the anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I on November 11, 1918.  This date also commemorates the 50th anniversary of the 1975 Dismissal of the Whitlam Government, another defining moment in Australia\u2019s political history.

A transcript of the speech is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has highlighted the scale of reform needed to prepare Australia\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4457,"featured_media":29672,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"8453,6015,4625,4606,5520,27787","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":82,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[126,88,82],"tags":[],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-29671","media-release","type-media-release","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-policy-public-affairs","category-society-and-culture"],"acf":{"experts":false,"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"","content":"","image":false},"related_courses":[{"title":"","qualification":"","link":"","description":"","faculty":""}],"credits":{"author":"","photographer":"","media":[22646,24388]},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/062-1000x500.jpg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Sam","last_name":"Jeremic","display_name":"Samuel Jeremic"},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/29671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/media-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/29671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29671"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=29671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}