Robert Oakeshott (Lyne, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker Scott. I acknowledge you were in continuation and look forward to hearing the rest of your speech sometime soon. I rise to speak on the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Income Support for Students) Bill 2009an important reform for regional and rural Australia and areas such as the mid-North Coast of New South Wales, where there is not a bricks-and-mortar university presence. Ours is an area with some of the lowest income levels, with some of the lowest lengths of stays in education and with some of the highest unemployment rates by comparison throughout Australia. So we are very sensitive to any reform in this area. Many aspects of these changes to Youth Allowance and trying to broaden the base for access to government payments to get students to university and help them stay at university—the broad suite of reforms that we are seeing—are genuinely pretty good. We are seeing increases, for example, to parental income tests. That is good. Measures such as the start-up scholarship are good. The actual amount of Youth Allowance is also increasing. That is good.

I sincerely hope that in areas such as mine, which are generally areas of lower socioeconomic status, and where traditionally students have remained in education for shorter periods, this reform package talks to the community and we do see some significant changes in those lengths of stay in education. If that happens, I think we will see those census figures on unemployment and income levels also change as a direct consequence of people being much more engaged for longer in the education system. That is the good news.

There are elements of concern, as we have heard many speakers in this place talk about. I certainly hope that the government keeps an eye on those issues of concern and also looks very closely at what I hope is a good report by the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport. The report of its inquiry into rural and regional access to secondary and tertiary education opportunities is expected to be released later in the week. I hope there is nothing suspicious or sinister about this bill being introduced before the release of the Senate report. I will take it on face value that there is not, but as the process moves forward I hope that the minister and the executive take good note of that Senate report. From anecdotal reports, they have been doing some good work throughout regional and rural areas such as mine. I have faith that that report will be a good one, and therefore the challenge is for government to take up the recommendations as they are presented.

I also want to raise the outstanding concern that I continue to have about this package. I hope that, either via response from the minister or through some ongoing oversight of this reform, the government keeps a close eye on the issue of the workforce criterion for 30 hours of work a week, which is a substantial change to the independence test to receive Youth Allowance. This has been raised by many students. To their credit, they have been incredibly well organised over the last six months in responding, advocating and lobbying on the issues in and around this reform package, but this issue in particular remains outstanding. For regional and rural students, particularly in high-unemployment areas, I hope the government keeps an eye on the effects of this change from 15 hours a week to 30 hours a week. It is a concern that has been raised constantly since this reform package was announced. In areas of high unemployment, accessing 30 hours of employment a week can be difficult even if you want to. That does not necessarily mean that someone is not independent. It may mean that, in the closed economy of a regional or rural community, 30 hours of work a week is difficult to get for some 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds. I encourage the government to keep an eye on that reform. I can certainly understand the reason the change is being made and the argument that no-one wants people adjusting their behaviour to demonstrate a need to access government support. However, this shift from 15 hours to 30 hours of work a week to demonstrate independence has caused genuine concern in regional areas where there are comparatively higher unemployment rates than in some of the metropolitan areas. Those rates are well above state averages in most of the states of Australia and certainly in New South Wales. I ask the government to keep an eye on that.

I will not speak for long on this because I think, to their credit, the government have taken note of a lot of the concerns that I and my community have had since this announcement was made and, where possible, made some changes. I, along with two incredibly engaging advocates from the mid-North Coast, met with the minister along with several other members of parliament. We saw some changes made and they were good. That process was certainly appreciated. I finish, therefore, by congratulating those advocates on the ground. Within 48 hours, these young year 12 finishers and first-year employees were on the phones, getting organised, setting up Facebook sites and setting up a national network of people concerned about the impacts, particularly on some gap year students, of these reforms. The three musketeers from the mid-North Coast—Heidi Pett, Laura Bereicua and Jess O’Callaghan—ran an absolutely brilliant advocacy campaign. When 18-year-olds mount such a campaign, I would happily invite anyone who rips into young people and says they are no good or are layabouts to come and talk to me. I will introduce you to these three very engaging individuals and I am sure they will restore your faith in the generations to come. A big congratulations to those three in particular. There was some leadership from the Port Macquarie community, particularly from those three, in getting the 18- and 19-year-olds of Australia organised. As a local member, you cannot help but be proud to see people advocating and lobbying in a very professional way for their interests, their colleagues’ interests and their community’s interests—and, ultimately, the national interest. Congratulations to all involved in the campaign.

I hope the changes we have seen so far are good, and I certainly hope it is not the end of the road. The Senate inquiry into regional and rural students is important. I hope the government remembers that and does not just put the report recommendations on the shelf but tries to include as many of those recommendations into the finetuning of this reform package as possible. In an overall sense, I think it is a pretty good package and will hopefully engage more students from the mid-North Coast in tertiary education in the future.

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