00:08A day at work for Matt Christie can sometimes mean travelling across some of the most remote
00:15stretches of outback Queensland. Matt's a guidance officer supporting school students
00:23in classrooms way out west. I'm based in Longreach but because I'm in the Outback and the population
00:32is spread out over like such a big distance I get to travel around to a big area and in
00:39my
00:39catchment I cover about 11 schools from Longreach right out to Birdsville. Matt is exactly the kind
00:47of professional that's really valuable in outback Queensland. He's young, educated and passionate
00:54about serving rural and remote communities and he's dedicated to both bettering his career
01:00and through it hopefully helping others. I'm studying my Bachelor of Honours in Psychology
01:08with the hope of progressing into becoming like a registered psychologist.
01:14200 kilometres away in another remote outpost, 26-year-old Mia Nisenzo is also studying in
01:22her own outback community of Blackall. Mia, like Matt, is also an asset to her community.
01:31She and her husband Harry have happily put down roots in Blackall. They've bought their first
01:36home and Mia is working nearby whilst studying. So I'm a disability support worker. I work for one
01:45lady in a property about an hour away. I love my job. I've been there for four years now.
01:52I'm studying a Bachelor of Law. It's a four to six year degree. I'm doing it part-time.
01:58Doing a degree online is nothing new but the way that both Matt in Longreach and Mia in Blackall
02:05are tackling their tertiary studies while living remotely is a little different. They're each
02:11studying through their local Country University Centre hub.
02:16So Country University Centres are essentially a facility that students who are registered with
02:24any sort of study provider can come and use. We have great internet connection. We have study
02:30support for students if they need it. We're sort of a bit of a bridge between being at home
02:35and going to university.
02:36It gives me a really nice, quiet, calm, focused place outside of home to do my work. Anyone
02:46who works from home knows exactly what it's like to be trying to focus on something but
02:51there's laundry to do, there's meals to be made. What's the dog barking at? Like you get
02:54distracted.
02:56And it costs students nothing.
03:00You're free to come and use our resources, our internet, you can photocopy and bind your placement
03:04books. You can use our big screens if you want to do some interactive engagement with your uni
03:11lecturers and it's all free.
03:14There's like the best bargain in the Outback, yeah.
