[Greens-Media] Hanson-Young: Govt must heed students', Greens' concerns and amend Youth Allowance legislation before it reaches Senate

[Clark, Gemma (Sen S. Hanson-Young)]

Monday 24 August 2009

Govt must heed students', Greens' concerns and amend Youth Allowance
legislation before it reaches Senate

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the Federal Government must amend
its Youth Allowance Budget measures legislation to accommodate current
gap year students who have been blocked from qualifying as independent
by the Government's proposed changes*.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard today held a roundtable meeting with
young people affected by the Government's proposed changes to Youth
Allowance, and announced afterwards that the Government would consider
the students' concerns and respond "in due course".

"The Deputy Prime Minister must amend her Youth Allowance legislation
before it reaches the Senate - or else the Greens will do it for her,"
said Senator Hanson-Young, Greens spokesperson for Education and Youth.

"The Government's response today stopped short of admitting it has made
a major blunder in cutting off current gap year students from qualifying
for independent Youth Allowance to sustain them at university next year.

"However, the Deputy Prime Minister's announcement that the Government
would respond in due course to concerns has laid the foundation for the
embarrassing backflip that must follow the public outcry over its unfair
changes."

Senator Hanson-Young said the education sector should not have been
targeted for savings in the May Budget.

"Young Australians aspiring to higher education - especially the large
numbers of gap year students in rural and regional areas - should not be
left carrying the can in the name of Budget savings," she said.

"The Deputy Prime Minister herself said today that country students had
been left behind by the previous Government, yet the Rudd Government has
delivered only a Budget-neutral package for its 'Education Revolution'.

"At a time when the job market is contracting, and young people are
turning to further education, retraining and upskilling to better their
work prospects, we should be supporting them in doing so, not making it
harder.

"Other areas of the Budget - for example, tax cuts for high-income
earners - could have been looked at to save those dollars.

"The Greens will also move to have a new eligibility criterion included
in the independence test for Youth Allowance, to accommodate
geographically disadvantaged students, who can adequately prove to
Centrelink that they have had to move out of their family home to go to
university or TAFE."

* The workforce participation eligibility criterion used by many young
people from rural and regional Australia to qualify for the independent
rate of Youth Allowance (earning $19,532 in an 18-month period during a
'gap year') is scheduled to end on January 1, 2010, excluding many
aspiring university students from support in 2011.

Media contact: Gemma Clark on 0427 604 760