Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr President. The government has made changes to the student income support provisions of the youth allowance in response to the Bradley review. That concentrated on the desire of the government to actually make the student support program more equitable, to provide support to more students, to assist particularly students from poorer families to go to university and to provide the support from the Commonwealth. Under the current scheme, the program allows for students from wealthier families to qualify for a higher independent rate of youth allowance through the work test, at the expense of students from needier families.