Did anyone notice that in the 2009 Australian Government budget, there has been a tightening of the workforce participation criterion for student income support?
I can't say I'm a fan of the proposed changes and I can't imagine too many students would be either. In fact it will make higher study impossible for some students. Under the changes, to qualify for financial independence, you have to work 30 hours per week for at least 18 months. How can a student be a student if required to work 30 hours per week? To meet this very strict criteria, students either need to take a year off, or only study part time.
In 2000, the Australian Vice Chancellors’ Committee, the council of Australia’s university presidents conducted a survey of 35,000 undergraduate students. This survey found that the majority of students either faced significant difficulty surviving on student income support or alternatively, struggled to find the time for proper study as they were having to meet the needs of full or part time employment so as to earn an adequate income. One of the results of this situation is that students take longer to complete their degrees and thus take longer to contribute in a full capacity to the workforce.
The Australian University Student Finances 2006 final report shows that access to adequate income support for postgrads is a barrier to participation, and this is especially the case for Indigenous students. Further, the findings from the report show that female postgraduates are less likely to be financially independant.
Interestingly, the single unemployment benefit is greater than most student income support payments that are available.
In reality, the current support system is geared against students, with young people from moderate income families most disadvantaged due to the family income test (although the threshold is likely to increase next year). The current system seems to be aimed at maximising the participation in the workforce of those who have finished compulsory schooling. However, in the case of those in higher education, the exact opposite is occurring. Because students are unable to access adequate support, their degrees take longer to complete, delaying the period they are able to contribute in their full capacity to the Australian economy.
I personally fail to see how tightening the access to student support can be a positive outcome. How do our students feel about this issue? Please post a comment and let us know.
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