Review of ABSTUDY too little, too late
18 August 1997
The National Tertiary Education Union has criticised the Government’s Review of Abstudy (announced last week) as offering nothing to Indigenous students.
A meeting of the NTEU’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy Drafting group, which is made up of Indigenous NTEU members, yesterday said that the Review had been effectively pre-empted by changes to Abstudy announced in the May Federal Budget. These cuts will, if implemented in 1998 as planned, result in many Indigenous students having their financial support reduced or removed. They will also result in the disappearance of courses offered in blocks, which currently enable students to study on-campus while remaining in their community.
`The Government seems to be making of a habit of cutting first and asking questions later,’ said NTEU President Carolyn Allport. `In this case, they’re not even asking the right questions.’
`The terms of reference are broad enough to allow the Review to look at the impact of changes made in the last Federal Budget, but the suggestion that its recommendations will be `budget neutral’ effectively removes any chance of a thorough examination of the impact of the cuts to Abstudy,’ she pointed out. `The government made those decisions with no consultation and apparently no regard for their consequences, apart from saving money. If they proceed, Indigenous participation in tertiary education, which the Government acknowledges is already poor, will be at risk of declining.’
Dr Allport also said that the Union was angry that a steering committee was being appointed without reference to Indigenous students or providers of education.
`Apart from ATSIC representation, the steering committee is composed entirely of Government bureaucrats,’ said Dr Allport. `This can only add to the view that the Review is about increasing efficiency for Government, rather than improving outcomes for Indigenous people.’
NTEU is urging the Government to reverse the changes announced to Abstudy in the May Budget, and will put this view in its submission to the Review.
FOR FURTHER COMMENT: CAROLYN ALLPORT TEL. 03 9254 1910