Indigenous HE Budget Misses the Point
May 11 2005
The NTEU claims that this year’s Indigenous education budget initiatives have once again missed the point in terms of redressing the critical issues affecting Indigenous educational participation and outcomes.
“The initiatives announced are piecemeal in nature and do not go to the core of the problems facing Indigenous students and their families”, said Joel Wright, NTEU National Indigenous Officer.
The Minister’s comment that “This [budget] reflects the Australian Government’s continued resolve to close the divide in education outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people” is best demonstrated through the continuing decline in Indigenous student numbers in higher education.
“Indigenous student numbers in Higher Education are again falling, despite the specific measures introduced through the Crossroads Review and subsequent budgets”, said Mr Wright. “Even with the numerous Government reviews into Indigenous participation and the impact of changes to Indigenous support schemes, the Government has once again failed to provide funding to those areas where it is most needed”.
One example of this is the budget’s failure to address the inappropriate age threshold for independent student status, which under ABSTUDY is 25 years of age. ABS statistics show that in 2004, 65% of the Indigenous population were less than 29 years of age compared to 41% for the non-Indigenous population. As has been repeatedly pointed out in NTEU submissions and research, this clearly demonstrates that the alignment of the ABSTUDY independence threshold to that of AUSTUDY continues to significantly disadvantage Indigenous students.
Another critical issue is access to the Commonwealth Learning Scholarships, which are not available to Indigenous students who are enrolled in bridging courses at University. “These courses, even though they’re wholly delivered by tertiary institutions, are classified by ABSTUDY policy as post-secondary, which reduces the amount of benefit these students are entitled to and results in financial pressures affecting recruitment, retention, completions and levels of achievement”, said Mr Wright.
“The introduction of the new Indigenous Youth Mobility program, which will offer 600 students relocation support to centres such as Cairns, Townsville, Toowoomba, Dubbo, Newcastle/Hunter Valley, Canberra, Shepparton, Adelaide Perth & Darwin, in order to access education and training, is a piecemeal attempt to reinstate aspects of the ABSTUDY Away From Base Allowance, which was changed by this Government in 2000”, said Mr Wright. “The abolition of this allowance resulted in a 15.2% decline in Indigenous Higher Education commencements and an 8.1% decline in all Indigenous students for 1999-2000.”
“If the Indigenous education budget initiatives are a demonstration of this Government’s commitment to Indigenous students, then there is not much of a future in store for our Indigenous youth who are progressively being denied the necessary financial support to successfully participate in education and training to improve their prospects of gaining sustainable employment. Maybe it is cheaper to import skilled foreign labour rather than invest in the future of this country’s Indigenous Australians,” concluded Mr Wright.
For Further Information and Comment Contact:
Mr Joel Wright, NTEU Indigenous Officer 0408 525 492