Wyatt Roy (Longman, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to speak in support of the Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Election Commitments and Other Measures) Bill 2011, which seeks to introduce legislation that will re-introduce previously applicable criteria for the assessment of eligibility for youth allowance by inner-regional students.

Prior to the government’s changes to the eligibility for youth allowance, it could be assessed in a variety of ways. Students could work part-time for 15 hours a week for two years after leaving school. Students could have been out of school for 18 months and have earned at least 75 per cent of the maximum rate of pay under wage level A of the Australian pay and classification scale in an 18-month period. Students could work an average of 30 hours per week for 18 months out of two years. Now inner-regional students can only access youth allowance under the third criterion. The only criterion applicable to them is that they must have worked an average of 30 hours per week for 18 months out of two years. This change is going to make it much harder for some regional students to access tertiary education. Fewer students from regional areas are going to be in a position where they can go to university.

Thirty hours a week is practically a full-time job, and finding full-time work in the regions can be difficult. Many students in regional areas access seasonal employment in the agricultural and tourism sectors, and the government’s changes to youth allowance eligibility criteria simply do not take this into account.

In addition to these issues associated with the availability of work, there are issues associated with entry into university after 18 months. Many universities do not accept deferrals for periods longer than 12 months. If any more time is needed, students are required to re-apply for a place in a university course of their choice. But eligibility criteria for courses change. Whilst you may get into your chosen course one year, there is no guarantee that this will be the case two years later. In addition, the longer students defer, the less likely they are to pursue tertiary study.

It is already the case that over 20 per cent more students from metropolitan areas go to university than regional students. Instead of attempting to facilitate access for regional students and narrow this gap, the changes to youth allowance will only make it more difficult for these young people. Not only are there costs of studying incurred by having to move away from home to pursue study; there are also significant re-allocation costs to be met—estimated as being in the vicinity of up to $20,000. This is a further significant barrier to regional students wanting to go on to tertiary study.

Unrestricted access to further education is vitally important for our nation. Further education and the attainment of skills will improve productivity and make Australia more competitive. Many regional areas rely on their young people returning to the regions to work after they have completed their study. For example, medical professionals are very difficult to source in the regions. A witness to the Senate inquiry made two points: firstly, that the government should make it easier for regional students to access university education in the hope that some may return to share their expertise with their communities and, secondly, that professional people living in the regions should not feel forced to move because their children cannot receive the education they want. It is important that all young people, regardless of where they live, be able to pursue further education if that is what they want to do. The government’s changes to youth allowance eligibility criteria have just made this so much harder for many young people in regional Australia. There is no equality and no fairness in this.

The restriction of access to youth allowance is having many detrimental effects on young people who are classified as living in regional areas. Many are suffering, as they feel—and rightly so—that an option they once had has been removed. They are feeling isolated and guilty for putting pressure on their families to send them to university. Some families are having to make impossible decisions about which children to send to university. The provision of equal access to further education is fair and right. This is a big issue for these students and should be a big issue for this Labor government. It is a big issue for the coalition, and honourable members would be aware that the Social Security Amendment (Income Support for Regional Students) Bill 2010 introduced by Senator Fiona Nash was passed in the Senate during the last sitting period. Senator Nash reiterated the coalition’s position that ‘regional students should have fair and equitable access to educational opportunities.’ The Labor-Greens coalition opposed this bill whilst it was supported by Senators Nick Xenophon and Steve Fielding, who voted with the coalition.

A Senate inquiry held into the Social Security Amendment (Income Support for Regional Students) Bill 2010 [2011] recently received over 200 submissions and heard testimony from witnesses who overwhelmingly stated that the revised criteria for accessing youth allowance by inner-regional students is unfair. These students and their families are asking for a hand up, not a handout. They want to access university studies on an equal basis to their metropolitan counterparts. In conclusion, I urge all members to support this bill in the interests of fairness for all regional students.

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