Since 1990, the Australian higher education system has experienced ongoing reform resulting in the number of universities and student populations more than doubling. Despite this expansion, inequalities in access to higher education related to family background and location persist. Due to the concentration of higher education campuses in the capital cities of each Australian state, inequalities related to geographic location may be as important as those related to socio-economic status. Our analysis of data collected by the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) research programme shows that students from regional and rural areas are less likely than their urban peers to enrol at university. Furthermore, this trend persists when levels of academic achievement at age 15 and Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) are accounted for. Given that demand for highly educated workers is increasing and that workers with no post-school qualifications are the most likely to experience unemployment or underemployment, the inaccessibility of educational opportunities may consign the current generation of non-metropolitan youth to extended periods of precarious employment.

自1990年以来，澳大利亚的高等教育系统经历了不断的改革，导致大学和学生人数翻了一番。尽管有这种扩大，但与家庭背景和地理位置有关的高等教育机会仍然存在。由于每个澳大利亚州首府的高等教育校园集中，与地理位置有关的不平等可能与与社会经济地位有关的不平等同样重要。我们对“澳大利亚青年纵向调查”（LSAY）研究计划收集的数据的分析表明，与城市同龄人相比，来自地区和农村地区的学生上大学的可能性较小。此外，考虑到15岁时的学术成就水平和澳大利亚高等教育入学排名（ATAR），这种趋势还将持续。