COAG Meeting

Communiqué, Council of Australian Governments, 30 April 2009; Media Release, The Hon Kevin Rudd MP & The Hon Julia Gillard MP, 30 April 2009; Media Release, The Hon Kevin Rudd MP, 30 April 2009

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has agreed to establish a Compact with Young Australians that will guarantee an education or training place for every Australian under 25 years of age. The Compact is based on three core principles:

• That anyone under the age of 17 years must be in full time school, training or work.
• That anyone under the age of 20 years who is not working will be provided with a training place in a government-subsidised Year 12 or equivalent Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification with the first priority.
• That anyone under the age of 25 years who is not working will be guaranteed a training place to ensure that they have the necessary skills to become part of the economic recovery.

In order to implement the Compact, COAG also agreed that the Centrelink Youth Allowance would not be available to people under the age of 20 years who were without a Year 12 or equivalent qualification and who were not undertaking some form of education or training.

The families of young people in the same situation would also be ineligible to receive Family Tax Benefit A. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd stated that ‘if young people or their parents want to receive government benefits the quid pro quo is that the young person is working or earning a year 12 equivalent qualification’.

COAG also agreed that, because of the introduction of the Compact, its goal to improve Year 12 retention rates would be moved forward. COAG had previously agreed that, by 2020, 90 per cent of Australians aged below 25 years of age would have completed Year 12 or its equivalent. At this week’s meeting, it was agreed that the states and territories would endeavour to meet this goal by 2015. The Australian Government indicated that it would allocate up to $100 million as reward payments under a National Partnership agreement for the achievement of improved performance by states and territories against the goal.

The Compact will be implemented for 15 to 19 year olds by 1 July 2009, and by 1 January 2010 for 20 to 24 year olds.

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