Excitement builds as Cairns grad biggest yet
Nearly 200 graduates have crossed the stage at CQUniversity Cairns graduation – as the campus marks a milestone year, and major plans for new growth.
The biggest-ever CQU graduation event for Far North Queensland, held at Cairns Convention Centre on Tuesday 29 April 2025, comes a decade after CQU first opened its Cairns campus in 2015.
The celebration also follows bipartisan support for new federal funding, for the second stage of the new CQUniversity Cairns CBD campus on Hartley St, with work to start later this year.
CQU’s latest FNQ graduates earned qualifications to meet high demand across a range of sectors for the region, including medical imaging, nursing, teaching, paramedic science, allied health, aviation, psychological science, engineering, IT, and accounting.
CQU Deputy Chancellor Sheila Houston challenged graduates to “continue to learn, aspire to more, find joy, and give generously to others”.
“My career has given me more than I could have imagined on the day I crossed my own graduation stage in Kansas,” she said.
“Whether your path takes you exactly where you want to go, or somewhere different entirely, please pause today to reflect on the journey to here, and the challenges and triumphs you’ve already experienced.”
President of the Urban Developers Institute and Cairns lawyer Ranjit Singh was guest speaker at the event, while Bachelor of Medical Science (Nutrition) graduate and Keith M Harrower Memorial Prize recipient Anna Rea gave the graduate response.
A qualified accountant, Anna described her dream to study nutrition – and the realisation that CQU Cairns made it possible.
“I was ready to give up on my dream, because I couldn’t move to another city to study… but finding CQU shaped my naïve dream into something greater,” she said.
Her study journey included a New Colombo Plan Scholarship to study in Japan in 2023, as well as travels to Canberra, Spain and Vietnam.
Anna paid tribute to CQUniversity academics and staff, who “help shape not just what we know, but what we’ve become.”
Other scholarship recipients to graduate were:
- Bachelor of Accounting graduate Kim Turner, Women in Finance and Economics Scholarship
- Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) graduate Yihang Sun, CQUniCares BMA Hay Point Engineering Scholarship
- Bachelor of Nursing graduate Gabrielle Sabatino, CQUniCares BHP Indigenous Scholarship
- Bachelor of Property graduate Lia Nucifora, Herron Todd White Rural Property Valuations Prize
Mareeba nurse Michelle Mills travelled with her five children to attend the graduation, and celebrate her Bachelor of Nursing.
“It really is a lifelong dream, and one that was so difficult to sustain, managing the study as a single mum,” Michelle explained.
“When I reached out to CQU’s Student Services, they were so understanding about the challenges, and so supportive – it really kept me on track, and able to stay mentally healthy, and get me here today!”
This month, CQU Cairns secured a bipartisan federal funding commitment of $27.5 million, for the second stage of the new CQUniversity Cairns CBD campus on Hartley St.
The funding builds on $50 million already committed, with work to start later this year.
CQU Associate Vice-Chancellor (Far North QLD Region) Jodie Duignan-George said the new campus would meet growing demand, and could see student numbers grow to 6000 in the next 10 to 15 years.
Learn more about study options in Far North Queensland at the CQUniversity Cairns webpage.
