June 25 2009

The Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee has announced the terms of reference for the Inquiry into Rural and Regional Access to Secondary and Tertiary Education Opportunities

Have your say!

My office is being inundated with complaints about the Rudd Labor Government's changes to Youth Allowance. These changes will have a devastating effect on the ability of many students in regional areas to pursue tertiary education and the Nationals will call for a Senate inquiry into the impact it will have.

Country students are being hung out to dry by the Rudd Labor Government in its quest to claw back whatever it can to pay off the billions of dollars it has had to borrow to pay for basic services.

With these changes there will be less money for accommodation for regional and remote students. Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarships that currently provide $4415 per annum for up to four years for eligible country based students will be replaced by a Relocation Allowance, which provides $4000 for the first year but only $1000 per year thereafter.

Regional families who are already doing it tough after years of drought and other budget cuts under Labor, will also be affected by changes to the Youth Allowance eligibility.

Currently country students are able to qualify for Youth Allowance by earning $19,532 or more during a gap year. Now they will have to work 30 hours per week for 18 months, effectively deferring their studies for two years, unless they succeed in securing a full-time job in a growing jobseeker market. The changes to Youth Allowance eligibility were designed to prevent the allowance being received by students living at home in major cities but it will be students in regional areas who pay the price through lower wages throughout their life because they will have to abandon plans to complete tertiary studies due to a lack of funds.

Once again it seems that there are different rules for different people, depending where you live.

There is a reverse effect as well. If city kids can't afford to leave home to study at a regional university, they won't and the experience of life on a regional university campus plus access to specialised courses will be lost. 

Details of how to make a submission to the Senate inquiry will be available here when the inquiry is set up.