Youth Allowance Changes Postponed for Six Months

The Canberra Times, 26 August 2009; The Age, 27 August 2009; The Australian, 27 August 2009

The Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Ms Julia Gillard, has announced that the Australian Government will postpone changes to the Youth Allowance scheme from 1 January 2010 to 30 June 2010.

The decision comes after Ms Gillard met with students who had already ‘made decisions based on the existing rules were not disadvantaged’.

Under the current student welfare system, students took a ‘gap year’ in order to qualify as ‘independent’ by earning $20,000 before commencing higher education studies in 2010. The proposed changes would have seen 2008 secondary school graduates, who had to move from home in order to attend university, unable to commence their education in 2010.

‘This change will mean that students will not be caught up in the transition between the old and new systems,’ Ms Gillard said.

If changes to the student welfare system are passed by the Senate, future students will have to work 30 hours a week for 18 months in order to qualify for Youth Allowance.

Opposition education spokesperson, Mr Christopher Pyne, said that the ‘backflip’ has left 25,000 students from rural business and farming families unsure of their future education options. Mr Pyne argued that students would be ‘shut out’ of higher education if they were unable to find 30 hours a week of work for an 18 month period.

‘Students in rural and regional Australia are currently preparing for their Year 12 exams with the knowledge that no matter how well they do, if they need the income that Youth Allowance provides, they won’t be able to go to university,’ Mr Pyne said.

The president of the National Union of Students, Mr David Barrow, said that the ‘six-month eligibility push-back was good news for those negatively affected by the transition to the new scheme and most, but not all, gap year students would be covered’.

 

 

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