May 27, 2009
A petition calling on the Federal Government to reverse its decision to change the criterion for Youth Allowance will be circulating at the One Night Stand in Sale this weekend.
The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has encouraged young people to register their opposition to the changes, which make it harder for regional students to afford to go to university.
The changes have created upheaval for students who have already deferred their studies to work for a year and qualify for Youth Allowance. Those students will no longer qualify for full Government support and must reconsider how they might overcome the financial barriers which make a university education unaffordable to many Gippslanders.
“It is extremely difficult to pay all of the relocation costs to establish a second home for regional students who must move away to attend their chosen course,” Mr Chester said.
“The existing independent Youth Allowance provisions were a lifeline for many country students who wouldn’t be able to afford to attend university under the revised proposals.”
Mr Chester has written directly to the Minister for Education and has spoken in opposition to the changes in Federal Parliament this week.
He will table the petition of signatures collected at the One Night Stand in Federal Parliament next week.