Commonwealth income support for students
Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs Annual Report 1997-98:
"The Government announced, as part of the 1996-97 Budget, the introduction of new arrangements for delivery of income support programs, including AUSTUDY, ABSTUDY and Assistance for Isolated Children. From July 1997 Centrelink, the agency that delivers Commonwealth services, combined the delivery of student assistance with payments and services for young people.
"AUSTUDY ceased operation on 30 June 1998. From 1 July1998, the Youth Allowance replaced AUSTUDY financial assistance to students, Austudy payment (for students over the age of 25 years) and the Pensioner Education Supplement. Policy responsibility for these payments now rests with the Minister for Social Security. Policy responsibility for the Assistance for Isolated Children scheme, ABSTUDY (including the ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement and ABSTUDY Student Financial Supplement Loan) remains with the Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs."
Meg Nichols, Isolated Children's Parents' Association (Tasmania), Hobart hearing, 5 November 1999:
"AIC is available for eligible students but as we have mentioned not many secondary students fulfil the geographically isolated criteria. When students are in Years 11 and 12 Tasmanian families experience exactly the same problems with eligibility for the Youth Allowance as was highlighted in the ICPA federal council submission to this commission. Many families try, but they cannot complete the required family actual means test form, because of its complexity."ICPA recently provided information about allowances available for rural and remote students to the peak parent body in Tasmania. They were unaware of what was available for rural students. These two instances remind us of the fact that many families in Tasmania are not aware of the financial assistance available to them and a small, volunteer parent association like ICPA is ill-equipped to do the publicity. It is sad to think that there may well be rural and remote families missing out on badly needed financial assistance to which they are entitled or, indeed, not sending their children on to further education because of a lack of information.
". there are many families now that a few years ago would not have been eligible for the Youth Allowance because of the assets test, and now may well be. The actual means test seems to be the one that really prevents them, and I don't know how many people in this room have actually looked at the actual means test, but it's a really involved and complex form and it scares so many people. There is a response that, "Oh, well, you know, you can get your accountant to do this," but many people will not do that sort of thing. They will not go to an accountant to get them to fill out an application form for an allowance that they really feel they should be able to have access to straightaway. But it certainly is an extremely complex form, the actual means test."
In this briefing paper you will find
- Summaries of the following allowances
- Extracts from submissions and other comments received
- An invitation to share your experience
