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Commonwealth act
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
The States Grants (Universities) Act (No. 2) 1972 is a Commonwealth funding law that channels federal money to Australian States to support their universities during the three-year period from 1973 to 1975 (called a "triennium" — a standard three-year planning cycle used in university funding at the time).
This law affects:
The Act establishes seven distinct streams of funding, each with its own rules and caps:
Recurrent grants (Section 3 + First Schedule): The main ongoing operating grants to help universities pay for day-to-day teaching and research. These are conditional — the State must first raise a minimum amount in fees and its own contributions, and the Commonwealth matches it up to a set maximum. If the State falls short, the Commonwealth grant is reduced proportionally.
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Direct links to the current provisions in States Grants (Universities) Act (No. 2) 1972.
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View on official registerSourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
Building grants (Section 5 + Second Schedule): Grants to match State contributions toward specific, named capital works at each university — new lecture theatres, libraries, science buildings, and so on. Each project has a listed dollar cap.
Equipment grants (Section 6 + Third Schedule): Matching grants for universities to buy equipment (including library materials). Universities must submit proposals to the Australian Universities Commission (the federal body overseeing universities) for approval.
Special research grants (Section 7 + Fourth Schedule): Grants where the Commonwealth covers up to half the cost of special research expenses that the university couldn't reasonably fund from ordinary sources, again matched against State contributions.
Residential building grants (Section 8 + Fifth Schedule): Grants for building or improving halls of residence (university-run student accommodation) and residential colleges (affiliated but independently run colleges). The amounts are split by type of accommodation — "collegiate" (supervised, community-style living) versus "non-collegiate."
Residential recurrent grants (Section 9): Annual per-head payments to States for halls and colleges, calculated based on the number of resident and non-resident students. Money must be used for tutorial assistance or administration at the relevant hall or college.
Teaching hospital grants (Sections 10–11 + Sixth and Seventh Schedules): Separate funding streams for university medical faculties — both capital works at named hospitals (e.g. new ward blocks, tutorial rooms) and ongoing costs like clinical supervisors' salaries and medical library books.
The grants aren't free money — strings are firmly attached:
This Act is a snapshot of how the Commonwealth funded the rapid expansion of Australian universities in the early 1970s — a period of major growth driven by rising student enrolments. It shows the Commonwealth using its financial power (under the Constitution's grants power) to shape university standards, academic pay, student accommodation, and medical education, even though universities themselves are State institutions. The matching-grant model — where Commonwealth money only flows if States contribute first — was designed to keep State governments financially committed to their own universities.