September 21, 2011
The Gillard Government’s backflip on independent Youth Allowance reached Federal Parliament this morning with the introduction of legislation to amend the current inequitable policy.
The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester said the decision to abolish the discriminatory ‘inner’ regional classification for accessing independent Youth Allowance would benefit many students and their families in Gippsland.
But he said there was a long way to go to improve the level of support for all regional students and increase university participation rates for regional communities.
“The changes are long overdue and are the result of a concerted community campaign and efforts by many Coalition MPs to force the government to fix the mess it created,” Mr Chester said.
“By allowing students from the so-called ‘inner’ regional area to utilise the same eligibility criteria as students from ‘outer’ regional and ‘remote’ areas, the government has finally accepted my view that the previous system was unfair.”
Under the changes, students living in Gippsland towns such as Sale, Yarram, Traralgon, Morwell and Churchill will finally be treated the same as students living in Bairnsdale, Lakes Entrance and Orbost.
Mr Chester has campaigned for improvements to the Youth Allowance system for the past three years but believes there is more work to be done.
“The system of student income support is still flawed and the changes announced by the government don’t go far enough,” Mr Chester said.
“The independent report by Professor Kwong Lee Dow has highlighted many of the concerns that I have raised in Parliament over the past three years.
“My view is that we need a Tertiary Access Allowance to help students and families with the additional costs they face when relocating which are not faced by students who have the option of staying at home.
“It shouldn’t be this hard to get a fair go and I will be continuing the fight on behalf of regional students and their families to secure additional funds in the future.
“Our focus should be on helping young people in regional areas like Gippsland, achieve their full potential.”