CHANGES to qualify for Youth Allowance made by the Federal Government will leave many Gippsland students out in the cold, according to Gippsland MHR Darren Chester.
In response to a review of higher education, commissioned in March 2008, the Federal Government adopted a range of new criteria to qualify for Youth Allowance assistance in last week's Budget.
According to a spokeswoman for Education Minister Julia Gillard, the reforms aimed to target assistance funding more effectively to students from low income backgrounds.
The spokeswoman said the review revealed assistance funding had not been reaching the people it was intended for.
"The review found that many people receiving assistance were not genuinely independent and often worked part time and lived at home with their parents,'' she said.
"There have been a lot of changes made to ensure people receiving (Youth Allowance) are genuinely independent and in need of assistance.''
Possibly the biggest reform to come from the review is the change in criteria to qualify as `independent'.
Students wishing to claim independence previously only had to have worked 15 hours per week over a two year period, or earnt at least $19,500 in an 18 month period.
However from January 1, 2010, students will have to have worked a minimum of 30 hours per week for 18 months to qualify.
The Parental Income Threshold test is set to increase under the reforms, from the current $32,000 to $42,559.
The Personal Income Threshold will also increase from $236 to $400 per fortnight, meaning students who are classified as independent could earn up to $400 per fortnight and still receive the maximum rate of Youth Allowance.
Under the reforms, the age of independence will gradually drop from 25 years to 22 by 2012.
According to the spokeswoman, relocation scholarships would also become more accessible for independent students.
"Basically a student had to move states to receive relocation assistance previously,'' she said.
"Now those who have to move more than a 90 minute drive from home to university will receive $4000 in relocation assistance for their first year and $1000 each year afterwards.''
However Mr Chester has raised fears that under the reforms, university studies would be put out of reach for many young Gippslanders.
He said the announcement "completely contradicted'' what was required to help more Gippsland students to pursue tertiary studies.
He said that the extra 15 hours a week of work required to qualify as independent would be unachievable for many Gippslanders.
"Given that the budget forecasts high unemployment and one million Australians out of work, it will be impossible for many country students to secure full-time work in the current economic circumstances,'' he said.
Mr Chester said he was particularly concerned about the impact on students who were already mid-way through their gap year.
"At a time when we should be reducing the economic barriers to help country students attend university, these changes show that the Federal Government has not given enough consideration to the extra costs borne by country families sending students away for tertiary studies.''
Past Gippsland Grammar students Chris Riley, Monique Lawless and Saada Malouf, who are currently on their gap year and will not qualify as independent under the reforms, described the changes as "unfair''.
They said students in the city living with their parents receiving Youth Allowance had "ruined the system''.
"The money we would have received would have gone straight to paying for accommodation,'' Saada said.
"Now it's going to put a lot more of a burden on our parents.''
According to Chris, at least 60 per cent of last year's Grammar students deferred their studies in order to qualify for Youth Allowance, many of whom now wont receive it.
"We planned to take a year off to earn money to be able to pay for ourselves ... now it's like (the government) has shifted the goal posts half way through the game,'' he said.
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