Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak today on the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Simplifying Student Payments) Bill 2017 here in the Senate, with a great sense of satisfaction and pride, supported by senators from across parties.

I am a proud member of a government that is focused on addressing the outcome gap between rural and regional students and city students accessing, in particular, in relation to this bill, higher education. Indeed, we are focused on improving regional education outcomes for all. As we know, there are three issues for regional students: firstly, access to higher education; secondly, increasing the aspiration of country kids to attend higher education; and the third barrier they need to overcome is that of achievement. When it comes to access, we need to ensure that they have online service provisions in their local communities. It is no good attending a local state school, where they have broadband and are able to do their school work, only to catch the bus home half an hour out of town and be unable to do their year 12 tasks in order to achieve the ATAR needed to attend the higher education institution they want to attend.

Firstly, this is about physical campuses in the regions—campuses attached to an urban university and, indeed, the regional university networks—and ensuring that we support them appropriately. Importantly, it is ensuring that we give those students who do choose to move away from home to study—because they should have exactly the same choices available to them that other year 12 students have—the financial support that they need. We know, from evidence given to us, that that is in excess of $30,000 per student per year to go and live in a capital city.

Secondly, in terms of increasing aspiration, that is a role for all communities. Young people need access to role models in their own communities and to aspire to something greater than maybe what they are living in their everyday lives. There are many, many students in the regions who make decisions about their futures based on what they see around them rather than being exposed to the variety of experiences that students in the city can avail themselves of.

Thirdly, with respect to achievement, what we do know about regional students is that they have a lower year 12 completion rate—it is very hard to get into university if you have not even completed year 12—and lower ATARs for those who do. That is not because kids from the country are any less able. I absolutely and categorically reject that. There is resilience, creativity and intellect that resides in the bright young things out in the regions. What restricts them and restricts their choices is not their capacity but a result of the system itself. It gives me great pride in the measures that we are bringing before the parliament today to address some of those systemic issues.

Turning to Senator Polley's tirade earlier: I am very proud of the government, because it is not just this suite of initiatives that it is focused on in addressing regional inequity in terms of educational outcomes. When we look at the previous initiatives brought before this parliament, we have taken farms out of the asset test for youth allowance. We are targeting those students who are from farming families so that that will be taken into account when assessing their eligibility for youth allowance. With child care in regional areas, our focus has been absolutely on low-income families who predominantly make up families in the regions. We are committed to a needs based funding model when it comes to school education, where rural and regionality is a key parameter in setting the government's funding model. I am very proud of that commitment from Minister Birmingham.

Today, we are substantially addressing the key findings of a series of forums that were held across regional Australia, from Port Augusta to Rockhampton and from Wangaratta to Narrabri. We heard about the need to simplify the process and that we needed to expand access to independent youth allowance. That those very students and families that we were seeking to assist were being cut out of getting the vital assistance that they needed to have the simple choice that every other young person in Australia has: 'Where do I want to go to study? How am I going to get there?'

The changes in this bill are a result of the hard work of so many coalition rural and regional MPs and senators. I would like to thank my dear colleague here in the chamber Senator Back for his continued advocacy in this space. I would also like to thank Nola Marino, Dan Tehan, Mark Coulton, Michael McCormack, Michelle Landry, Rick Wilson, Rowan Ramsey, Melissa Price, Luke Hartsuyker and many, many others over a long period of time for their dogged determination to not let this issue rest.

I will briefly go to some of the specific measures because I know we are very keen to pass this bill today. The schedule will amend the rules governing when a person is to be regarded as independent for youth allowance and relocation scholarship purposes by reducing—hallelujah, after a very long time—from 18 months to 14 months the period that young people from regional and remote Australia have to earn the amount required to satisfy the workforce independent provisions. So, for the very first time, a gap year will actually be a gap year for country kids. Typically, in the past they have had to wait 18 months—universities do not let you defer for 18 months; they only let you defer for 12 months. So there were a lot of complexities and decisions being made by young people from the regions who deferred their university—not to then attend when they were eligible to. We will not have to delay their commencement of study. Young people who finish year 12 in 2016 will be able to take advantage of the reduced period to meet workforce independence criteria for youth allowance before commencing their university or tertiary studies in early 2018. Approximately 3,700 students will qualify for youth allowance as independent under this measure, 2½ thousand of these qualifying four months sooner than under current arrangements. That is fantastic news.

The agenda to simplify student payments for the social security system is a welcome change. We heard evidence of the complexity of the process of applying for youth allowance. I remember one accountant father in Albany, WA saying that, if he was having trouble filling in the form as somebody with a CPA, what hope did others have? It almost seemed that you needed a degree before you had even got to O-week in order to access independent youth allowance. So the schedule simplifies the processes, adopting the latest version of the Australian statistical geographic standard. We also look at the family home, classified in a rural, regional and remote location, making sure that these changes are quarantined to those that need them most. I am so proud of this government for our careful and astute focus and targeted, strategic application of where taxpayers' funds go. We are putting it at the coalface where it is needed, not supporting those people in our community and those students who do not necessarily need this additional assistance.

There are a range of measures I will not go through, because I know others are keen to get going. This has been an incredibly long process. We have known the policy outcome—increasing educational participation by rural and regional students in higher education—sits with the Department of Education and the ministers for education and the financial assistance sits with ministers for social services. Sometimes it is a very siloed approach to government. We needed to get those people together and we did that a couple of years ago. I would like to thank all the ministers that have been on that journey with us for their capacity to come and engage with coalition rural and regional MPs and senators and to deliver outcomes over a long period of time. To former minister for education Pyne; former social service ministers Andrews and Minister Morrison; the current education minister, Senator Birmingham; and, indeed, the Minister for Social Services, Minister Porter for delivering real action on an issue of significant concern to so many within coalition ranks.

There is much more to be done in this space, and we are not resting on our laurels at all. The Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, announced during the election campaign our commitment to holding an independent review into regional education to look at those other issues I touched on at the beginning of my contribution: the other aspects of an educational journey of a young person from regional Australia and how we can better support them not just as a federal government but right throughout the system to overcome the disadvantage.

I was very proud that we announced our independent review into regional education to be chaired by Professor Halsey. Look our for a discussion paper near you; it should be arriving by the end of April. I encourage all who are passionate about this area and keen on ensuring that young people from right across Australia have every opportunity available to them to get involved and have a say, because postcodes should not matter when it comes to educational outcomes in a country like Australia in the 21st century. I am very proud to be in a government absolutely committed to educational equity. I commend this bill to the Senate.