“Whilst the nation’s focus is on closing the Indigenous education gap, without the full 2018 ABSTUDY budget measures the distance will not close,” states Anthony Bennett, Chairperson of Indigenous Education & Boarding Australia.
“Indigenous families are still being short changed by the failure of the parliament to legislate a critical component of the 50 Years of ABSTUDY 2018 budget measures and as a result remote Indigenous students continue to drop out of the senior years of secondary school boarding.”
Indigenous Education & Boarding Australia welcomed the 2018 ABSTUDY budget measures when they were introduced, however, the most important aspect for Indigenous families access to ABSTUDY has still not been legislated.
The loss of Family Tax Benefit Part A benefits to Indigenous families when their child turns 16 years old has created an unintended exit point for students to be withdrawn from boarding schools as families can not afford the loss of household income. This denies many students from remote Australia the opportunity to complete their education.
The Family Tax Benefit Part A amendments were introduced to address anomalies in the implementation of the maintenance income test for ABSTUDY students. This budget measure was identified for implementation from 1 January 2019 but is still to be introduced to the parliament.
“We are calling for legislation to be introduced immediately as the government needs to take every measure to stop Indigenous families withdrawing their children from boarding when their Family Tax Benefit income cuts out” states Mr. Bennett.
Whilst Indigenous Education & Boarding Australia supports the ABSTUDY system and applauds the 50 Years of ABSTUDY package the historical lack of direct secondary education funding for Indigenous students from remote Australia has meant that for 50 years these students’ rights to a quality education has largely been treated as welfare through ABSTUDY benefits rather than through the lens of education funding.
As Mr. Bennett asserts, “ABSTUDY is a welfare payment from the Social Services budget but it is also foundational to the financial viability of Indigenous student boarding. ABSTUDY is therefore critical to provide opportunities for young first nations people from remote Australia to gain a quality secondary education.”
“However, it is our view that Indigenous education would be better served if funding was provided through education channels for remote students as this would focus on metrics more closely aligned to closing the gap.”
Indigenous Education & Boarding Australia was launched as the trading name of Boarding Australia in March 2019 to support Indigenous students in boarding. Our vision is that all Indigenous students attain educational outcomes that enable them to be successful in their future choices.
