Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations officials have confirmed what the Coalition suspected - that not all `inner’ regional students receiving youth allowance would be getting the full amount.
The government claims the number of `inner’ regional students receiving youth allowance increased by 4250 students, or 20 per cent, in 12 months.
“What it didn’t say is that there are students receiving only a part rate of the allowance,” the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Education, Senator Fiona Nash, said.
“This was confirmed by officials during senate estimates who said the rate of payment to students would vary.”
When questioned on the total cost of assistance to these additional students, department official, Marsha Milliken, said: “It would be a varied mix of students receiving the maximum rate and receiving the part rate.”
“Depending on their parental income, some students could be getting as little as a few dollars of dependent youth allowance a fortnight. Compare that with the full rate of Independent Youth Allowance of $388 a fortnight,” Senator Nash said.
“Sadly so many students living in `inner’ regional areas are struggling to get the Independent Youth Allowance because of unfair changes the Labor government made to the eligibility criteria, a situation which the Coalition has been trying to fix.”
Senator Nash said the government also needs to be honest about its plans after the review of youth allowance finishes next month.
Senator Evans told ABC Ballarat yesterday: “Look, we are committed to removing those distinctions between the various rural and regional areas, but we’ve also made it clear that there is not an endless bucket of money and I think people need to be aware that does not mean that everyone will move to the outer regional rules.”
“When the Minister said in his media release on February 21 that “The Government recognises the need to eliminate eligibility distinctions between inner regional and outer regional students,” many regional students and their families thought that meant there would be changes so that inner regional students would be subject to the same criteria as outer regional, remote and very remote students,” Senator Nash said.
“Which is it Minister? Your mixed messages are confusing students and their families.
“The problem is Labor has become so good at spin that it doesn’t know how to tell the real story to the Australian people.
“The real story is that this government continues to treat regional students unfairly – and they deserve better.”
Friday, June 03, 2011 12:30 PM
I am a parent of an "inner" regional student who will have no access to the independant youth allowance until next year 2012, two years from leaving high school. She still has to live away from home to attend university, as there is no university in the area. What makes the costs of inner regional students different to outer regional students different? None