Government backdown on Youth Allowance

Since May last year the Coalition has sought three changes to the youth allowance legislation:

• To remove all retrospectivity from the legislation.
• To ensure a pathway exists for regional, remote and very remote youth by retaining the existing gap year provisions for these students.
• To ensure that these changes are budget neutral.

After months of being told these things were impossible the Coalition has delivered.

• Retrospectivity has been entirely removed from the Bill. All students who began a gap year in good faith last year will qualify for youth allowance under the existing provisions.
• The Coalition has succeeded in ensuring a pathway for rural, remote and very remote students with the Government making a further $104 million concession. This change will restore all three workforce participation tests for students classified as outer regional, rural and remote who wish to apply for the independent rate of youth allowance.
• The changes will remain budget neutral by a reduction to the start-up scholarships.

"Under the Government's original changes young people in rural, remote and very remote areas needed to find 30 hours of work a week for 18 months over two years to qualify for the independent rate of youth allowance which was impossible," Mr Pyne said.

"Thanks to the Coalition, they will now be able to qualify by working 15 hours a week over two years or earning $19,532 over an 18 month period as is currently possible under the old rules," he said.

This will mean that around an additional 7600 students over four years will be able to access university from some of the most remote locations in Australia.

The Coalition remains committed to addressing rural and regional inequity, there will still be some students who may miss out under the changes from rural and regional Australia.

If elected the Coalition will re-examine equity issues surrounding rural and regional youth and access to higher education to further enhance the changes the Government has been forced to make.

The Minister has come a long way from stubbornly insisting there was no basis to our claims, to finally conceding there is inequity in her changes for rural and remote areas.

However this admission is particularly damning for rural and regional Labor Members who failed to speak up for their constituents, but will now try and take credit for the changes delivered thanks to the determination of the Coalition.

The Labor Members for Lingiari, Leichhardt, Dawson, Capricornia, Flynn, Richmond, Page, Hunter, Macquarie, Eden-Monaro, Corangamite, Lyons, Braddon, Bass and Franklin need to explain to their constituents that they abandoned the field leaving it to the Coalition to deliver.

Similarly the rural independent Members of the Representatives all supported the Government's position on youth allowance, ignoring the concerns of their constituents.

The Members for Kennedy, New England and Lyne all abandoned the field, leaving the heavy lifting to the Coalition. Their constituents will also benefit from these changes.

Despite these concessions we believe there is still scope for improvement to this legislation, but we are prepared to ensure its passage this week so scholarships, including vital relocation allowances, can flow to students," Mr Pyne said.

March 16, 2010

MEDIA CONTACT:

Adam Howard

0400 414 833