University of Australia Online: a vision for a better educated Australia

For Australia it means we can market every participating university's online courses to overseas students through the University of Australia Online brand.

The UAO will also have a Quality Assurance Board to ensure that high-quality standards are maintained.

Online study does not mean cheap and low quality. Online study does not mean simply putting the lecturer's notes on the Internet.

Some Australian universities are already offering high-quality, online courses, most for postgraduate study. The best of these encourage critical thinking by maximising student interaction with lecturers, tutors and fellow students.

Most also include some face-to-face component, like many traditional correspondence or distance education courses.

We expect many students who enrol through the UAO will be mature age or second-chance students.

Thousands of Australians are currently denied a university education because they cannot afford to give up three years of paid work or because they do not live in university towns or cities.

The UAO will give them the education opportunities they deserve.

Being able to study when you want, where you want, will open up opportunities for parents who are raising children at home, for working families who cannot afford to lose an income for three years, and for people in regional Australia who cannot afford to travel to or live on campus.

Most universities offer bridging or pathways programs to encourage people over 25, who may not have a TER score, to consider studying at university.

The UAO will offer these pathways programs free of charge to encourage as many people as possible to consider improving their education.

The UAO is not just about improving access to tertiary study for Australians, important though that is.