You cannot be what you cannot see

Recently I attended the first National Conference for Regional, Rural and Remote Education (NCRRRE) with the UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion. I sat on the student panel and co-presented a case study about a student-led UTS initiative to engage with the university’s low number of regional and remote students – the lowest in fact of all universities in NSW, representing just over 3 percent of the total student body but still numbering over one thousand.

The NCRRRE was opened by Australia’s Regional Education Commissioner, Fiona Nash, who observed, ‘You cannot be what you cannot see’. It was an adage that would be repeated over the following days by academics and practitioners from all corners of the country, who showcased their initiatives and studies that drew attention to the need for higher-education institutions to meet regional people where they are and provide support alongside access.

I grew up in regional NSW and chose to move to Sydney to study journalism at UTS, not because I had a burning desire to move to the state capital, or any major city for that matter, but rather because I was told that these were the only places with opportunities for people like me. The CMT’s upcoming report on regional news media can be read to reflect this sentiment, insofar as it reveals a reduced newsgathering capacity in regional NSW and limited representation of stories from regional NSW in national and state-wide news products. However, it should also be read to show that while supply may have decreased, the need and demand for high-quality regional news at both a local and national level have not.

Travis Radford, CMT Research Assistant