Government sent loud and clear message concerning Independent Youth Allowance
29-October-2010
Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton believes the onus is squarely on the Government to reconstruct its Independent Youth Allowance legislation after a majority of the House of Representatives voted to support a motion introduced by the Coalition.
Mr Coulton sees today’s result as a demonstration of the dissatisfaction surrounding the Independent Youth Allowance legislation, which unfairly discriminates against school-leavers in regional areas.
“Today’s outcome sends a strong message to the Prime Minister that the changes she made while Education Minister were unfair and have undermined the educational opportunities for regional students and their families,” he said.
“This motion was all about putting fairness back into the criteria for Independent Youth Allowance and it is a great result that it was passed.
“It is now up to the Labor Government to listen and change the legislation, thus allowing all regional and rural students the same access to Independent Youth Allowance.”
Mr Coulton believes the alterations the Government made at the start of the year to the eligibility criteria for Independent Youth Allowance, directly relating to people classified as living in “inner regional areas”, were “extremely unfair”.
“People who were classified as living in an “inner regional area” were forced to work for 30 hours a week for 18 months over a two year period before being considered independent,” he said.
“What the Government didn’t take into account was the difficulties that people in regional areas face in gaining full-time employment.
“Much of the work is seasonal or based around tourism which creates another barrier for regional students.”
Mr Coulton couldn’t understand why the Government changed the legislation in the first place, as all outcomes pointed to having a detrimental affect on rural communities.
“Under the new legislation, many students were forced to leave their local area in search of full-time work so they would eventually be eligible for Independent Youth Allowance,” he said.
“The Prime Minister claimed after the election she supported regional Australia but the Government’s changes to legislation put more roadblocks in front of students wanting to continue their education.
“Regional students and families already face the cost of relocating to attend university or tafe so why burden them with more obstacles?”