A new and improved Youth Allowance

Country students need to be able to access tertiary education without breaking the family budget. We need to be looking to increase university participation amongst Western Victorian students not making it harder for our students to support further studies.

The Labor Government’s changes to Youth Allowance, made by Julia Gillard while she was Education Minister, clearly show that the Labor Government has no understanding of the needs of Western Victoria.. The changes are inequitable and make it harder for students from Western Victoria to attend tertiary institutions. The funding criteria and the boundaries which define whether a student is living in rural, remote or very remote areas need to be changed. They show no understanding of our local communities.