Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak in favour of a tax law amendment that will create the new education tax refund. The Tax Laws Amendment (Education Refund) Bill 2008 is tax reform that will help working mums and dads with the cost of educating their children. It is about lending a hand to help working families. Creating this tax reform will help families meet their schooling costs and it will ease the cost-of-living pressures for Australia’s working families.

The Rudd Labor government is delivering on its election commitment by providing this education tax refund. Around 1.3 million Australian families will be eligible for this education refund. The initiative is investing $4.4 billion in financial support to help working families meet the growing costs of educating their children. It will put money back into the pockets of the many Australian families with school aged children. As a parent, I know how important it is to give your kids the best possible start in their education. I am sure that the eligible parents of the 50-odd schools in my electorate will appreciate being able to claim this rebate. In fact, it is estimated that this measure will help the families of around 2.7 million school aged children meet the costs of their education.

As children progress through primary school to secondary school, the cost of equipping them for schooling over those years is certainly a significant one. The delivery of education has changed dramatically in recent times, and we all know that technology plays an important role in how our children are educated. Computer technology is one such example. As the Prime Minister has said on several occasions, computers are the toolbox for the 21st century. The internet and computers link both primary and secondary students to a global world. Computer and internet technologies continue to evolve at a fast pace, and we must ensure that the education of Australia’s children keeps up to speed with this constantly changing environment. To be left behind is not an option. Australian children must be computer literate. The digital economy is a fundamental component of every aspect of business and of our daily lives.

The education tax refund is one measure that could be used to help children keep pace with information and communication technology changes. Eligible families would be able to recoup the cost of purchasing laptops and home computers. The other costs that are refundable under this education refund are home internet connections, printers, educational software, prescribed trade tools for use at school, school textbooks and stationery. Families who receive the family tax benefit part A, or would do so if they were not in receipt of other payments such as youth allowance or the DSP, will be entitled to this new education tax refund for eligible education expenses. Eligible parents will be able to claim a 50 per cent rebate every year for up to $750 of education expenses for each child attending primary school—that is, a refund of up to $375 per student per year. For each child attending secondary school, eligible parents will be able to claim a 50 per cent refund for up to $1,500 of educational expenses—that is, a tax refund of $750 per student in high school per year. I take this opportunity to remind parents to start keeping their receipts for when they lodge their tax returns next year. Those who do not lodge tax returns, as others have said, can get a form from the ATO.

This investment of $4.4 billion is financial support to help over a million working families. It was an integral part of this government’s working families package, which was announced in the budget in May this year. It is part of the $55 billion support package for working families to take the pressure off the household budget. The package also included $46.7 billion worth of personal income tax cuts for working Australians. These cuts will mean that an average family is around $50 a week better off since these tax cuts began in July this year. There was also $1.6 billion to increase the rate and frequency of the childcare cash rebate to help families meet the costs of child care. We have increased the childcare cash rebate for parents with children in approved care from thirty per cent to fifty per cent. The government is also going to make this payment quarterly and, from last month, on an ongoing basis. I know many families in my electorate of Franklin who received this payment in the last fortnight are really pleased to be receiving it quarterly. We have also increased the yearly limit claimable for a child under the childcare tax rebate from around $4,300 per child in care to $7,500 per child. All of these measures will provide families with a benefit of between $500 and $2,500 for an average family with one child in child care.

The package in the budget delivered assistance to working families under financial pressure and will also help prepare Australia for its future economic challenges, and today we face one of the biggest economic challenges. Since the budget the world has changed, and just a couple of weeks ago the Rudd government announced an Economic Security Strategy. This decisive action will provide $10.4 billion to strengthen the Australian economy and to support Australian households during the global financial crisis. The Economic Security Strategy will help ensure our economy emerges in strong shape so that we can provide quality jobs and security for working families into the future. More tax relief will be delivered to families who receive family tax benefit A through a one-off payment of $1,000 for each eligible child in their care as at 14 October this year, to be paid from 8 December over that fortnight. We strengthen our economy and support working families through measures such as these and the education tax refund. We are providing additional relief right now when families need it most, but we also have a plan to ensure we continue to support working families well into the future.

This government committed to an education revolution in the lead-up to the election campaign in 2007. It was an election promise that the Australian people embraced and supported. The Rudd government is delivering on the education plan—the education revolution—which provides for a range of measures. This tax refund is just a part of that. Quality education is one of the greatest gifts we can give our young Australians because it allows our students to achieve personal success and contribute to national strength and our prosperity. To be globally competitive we need a world-class education system, and we believe that every Australian child deserves a world-class education and that this should start at the very beginning. The education revolution has a strong foundation. It is Australian kids that are the focus of the revolution.

An important measure that is critical to delivering the education revolution is around our integrated early childhood initiatives. The Rudd government will invest $2.4 billion over the next five years in integrated early childhood measures alone. Early childhood education and the childcare sector are a critical component in preparing all children for learning and for life. Over the next four years the Australian government will invest over $126 million to train and retrain a high-quality early childhood education workforce. We will also establish up to 260 additional early learning and care centres across Australia by 2014. We are committed to making a difference

Improving the literacy and numeracy of primary school students is also high on the list for the Australian government. In the lead-up to National Literacy and Numeracy Week I was fortunate enough to pay a visit to Warrane Primary School, which is situated in the electorate of Franklin, along with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education. I was really pleased to hear the Deputy Prime Minister announce that the Rudd government will contribute $4 million in funding to expand the Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap pilot program in Tasmanian schools. This pilot program provides targeted support to schools like Warrane Primary to increase the number of children finishing their primary education with functional literacy and numeracy skills. It is a great program and has been well supported by the Tasmanian state Labor government also. Overall, the Rudd government will invest over $40 million in 29 literacy and numeracy pilot projects in schools across Australia. The pilot program is all about getting the basics right at school so we can give our kids a helping hand to reach their full potential. Education measures like this, combined with the education tax refund, go a long way to help Australian families and their children.

The Rudd government is also determined to improve results for those in the secondary school system. The Australian government is committed to lifting the numbers of Australian children completing year 12 or equivalent to 90 per cent of all students by 2020. In Tasmania our retention rates are very low, and I know that the state Labor government is also working hard to meet targets.

As I have said previously, computers and the internet are part and parcel of our daily lives. For students, computer technology and access to the internet are key components of the delivery of education in most Australian classrooms at senior secondary level. This is why the Rudd government has put such an emphasis on digital technology and investing in a digital education revolution. The Fibre Connections to Schools initiative to facilitate high-speed broadband is also progressing. A $100 million funding package has been allocated to this initiative. From this funding the government has allocated $32 million over two years to supply students and teachers across Australia with online curriculum tools and resources. Assistance will also be available to make the best use of information and communication technology, with the development of support mechanisms. This will receive funding of $10 million over three years. In addition, $11.25 million will be directed through state and territory governments for professional development in information and communication technology. Another commitment in the education revolution is the Local Schools Working Together initiative, which will provide over $62 million over four years to construct shared facilities between government and non-government schools. This will increase education options, particularly in growth areas where infrastructure is under strain.

We are investing $1 billion over four years in the digital education revolution to improve secondary school students’ access and to equip them for the jobs of the future. The Rudd government believes there is a need to upgrade ICT in our schools through the digital education revolution. We want our children to have the education tools for the 21st century. More access to computers in schools, combined with tax relief, could also be used to assist children to access computers and the internet from home. As I talk to my constituents across the seat of Franklin, I know the sacrifices that many parents make to ensure the best possible outcomes for their children’s educations. They want them to have access to a home computer and they want them to have access to the internet. Parents are often forced to juggle their responsibilities and their household budgets to pay for the education costs, which have been on the rise over past years. Families are facing a range of cost pressures, including mortgage repayments, petrol prices and grocery bills. When you add the growing cost of education to the household budget, you can understand why these financial pressures exist.

If Australia is to continue to succeed economically, there is no doubt that our Aussie kids who are attending an early childhood learning centre, a primary school or a secondary school today will be an integral component of this nation’s success. We know that education provides these individuals with the opportunity for success. I believe quality education will help prosper this nation. It will also help prosper our children, who will be the next generation to take Australia forward. To achieve this, we need to give Australia’s working families all the extra help we can. If part of this includes easing the burden on their household budgets by removing some of the financial pressure as a way to assist then this is something I fully support. I commend this bill to the House.

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