U3A Network Queensland State Conference

Outgoing President, U3A Network Queensland, Mrs Rhonda Weston AM; your successor as President, Mr Mike Loftus, currently President of U3A Sunshine Coast; Vice-President, U3A Sunshine Coast, Mr John Armstrong; Vice-Chancellor and President, University of the Sunshine Coast, Professor Helen Bartlett; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen. 

I, too, acknowledge the Original Custodians of the lands upon which we are gathered and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to any First Nations people here today.  

Good morning, everyone. I thank you all for welcoming me so warmly, and a special thanks to the U3A Sunshine Coast group for inviting me to officially open this special celebration of 40 years of the U3A Network in Queensland. 

For more than a thousand years, one of the characteristics of civilisations around the world has been the emergence of centres for philosophical and scientific study where scholars can exchange and debate new concepts and ideas.  

Egypt, India and ancient China all had such centres, but it was in medieval Italy in the year 1088 that the Latin word universitas was first used to describe such a community of masters and scholars.  

That was in the city of Bologna, a city which today proudly lays claim to being one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the Western world. 

It may have been the first, but it was a far cry from what we think of as a university in Australia today.  

There were no permanent buildings, so scholars attended lectures in rented premises; instruction was decentralised and informal; individual scholars sought out teachers who would meet their needs, sometimes even pooling their resources to pay them. 

To me, those characteristics sound not unlike today’s U3A – a community of scholars with enquiring minds who support each other in their quest for knowledge and understanding.  

The difference is that this university is for people in the third age of life, when they can finally step off society’s treadmill and embrace the pleasure and satisfaction of learning new things, making new friendships, and enjoying new experiences.  

Even so, with all of these benefits, as well as affordable fees, a vast range of classes, open access and no exams, when the first U3A was set up in Melbourne in 1984 Australians had many questions. 

Just what was this new form of community-based learning for older adults? How could a university allow people to enrol without meeting entry requirements? How could it be called a ‘university’ when it did not confer degrees? 

The first task of the organisers in every centre was to address those concerns and build trust.  

At a time before social media, this required public meetings and newspaper advertising1 as well as a band of dedicated advocates to spread the idea by word-of-mouth, spelling out what ‘third age’ meant and patiently explaining that this was a different and much more ancient kind of ‘university’. 

And they succeeded. Today, U3A can claim to be the fastest growing adult education movement in Australia, with an estimated 300 groups around the country serving more than 100,000 members.  

By the most recent tally, Queensland alone has over 24,000 members and 34 associations.  

That’s a significant achievement, and I congratulate everyone here on their dedicated efforts to ensure that success and thank every local group for the important and ongoing contribution they make to community wellbeing.  

Promoting the health of all Queenslanders was a core professional goal for me during my 16 years as our State’s Chief Health Officer and it has remained one of my key priorities since my appointment as Governor in November 2021.  

I am proud and grateful to have shared that mission and goal with U3A as your Patron during my term. 

It now gives me great pleasure to officially open the Queensland State conference of the U3A Network and wish you all well as you celebrate 40 years of lifelong learning.

Thank you.