For more than a decade, the Murray River communities have been advocating for a tertiary education presence to address the loss of local learners to Adelaide and to improve career and economic development within the region. Access to higher education has been a significant barrier to enterprise growth and population retention across the region.

The local government leadership in the region maintains a strong focus of increasing tertiary education services in the area, actively advocating for an increase of training opportunities leading to the creation of the Murray River Study Hub (MRSH).

The vision is to create a tertiary education pathway in region, to increase post-secondary schooling uptake. The delivery of tertiary courses and study support in regional locations allows students to remain living in our townships and communities, and provides options for the start of tertiary study, whilst still at high school.

In 2020, Regional Development Australia Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu & Kangaroo Island led a consortium of Fleurieu councils (City of Victor Harbor, District Council of Yankalilla, Alexandrina Council) to fund the development of a business plan for a ’South Coast Regional University Centre’ which was released in April 2021. The strategic objectives of the plan were to;

• Break down barriers to tertiary education
• Keep young people in the region
• Grow tertiary qualified, local workforces to support a competitive, vibrant and resilient economy and community.

Persistence paid off for the regions advocacy in early 2024 when the newly named Fleurieu Study Hub received funding under the Federal Department of Education’s, Regional University Study Hubs program. Based at Victor Harbor, the southern Fleurieu now has its very own study hub to support resident’s ambitions for tertiary qualifications while remaining in community.

Following this advancement, hub operator Rural City Murray Bridge secured further Federal funding and expanded their model to Kangaroo Island. Kangaroo Island Study Hub is the collaboration of local government and business case work by Regional Development Australia Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island (RDA AHFKI), addressing the island’s long-standing challenges with tertiary access and low completion rates, while supporting population retention and local workforce development.