MEMBER for Wannon Dan Tehan believes proposed changes to support payments for rural students would encourage Ararat students to return to university after deferment.
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The federal Coalition has pledged, if re-elected on Saturday, to spend $83 million to reduce the time that students need to be employed to gain full benefits of Youth Allowance and ABSTUDY.
Youth Allowance is a Centrelink program that provides financial help for people aged from 18 to 24 who are in study or training.
The amount of money that students can get varies depending on their circumstances, but most can claim between $237 and $433 per fortnight.
ABSTUDY is a similar program but for people of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.
To get more money from the program, students must first work and earn at rate of about $24,000 per year for 18 months to be classified as self-supporting.
Federal Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce announced last week that a re-elected Coalition government would cut that time down to 14 months.
Mr Tehan said the changes would encourage students who deferred courses to return to study.
“This will mean that a student is able to meet the relevant earnings criteria to prove independence within one GAP year, as opposed to having to work for longer and delay their university commencement,” he said.
“The longer a student is not engaged in further study after school, the less likely it is that they will re-engage.”
The Coalition has also pledged to spend $24 million on 1200 new Rural and Regional Enterprise scholarships.
The Scholarships would be worth up to $20,000 each for students taking courses in Science, Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM).
“Demand for STEM scholarships will be driven by the aspirations and interest of local students to pursue studies in these areas,” Mr Tehan said.
“The Coalition’s commitment to improve access to education for regional students will help young people in Ararat.
“I encourage students to make the most of these opportunities.”