Ross Hart (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is always a pleasure to hear the well-informed views of the member for Indi. Thank you for your contribution on this legislation, the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Simplifying Student Payments) Bill 2016. This bill makes amendments to the Social Security Act 1991. Firstly, means testing arrangements for social security benefits paid to students, such as youth allowance and Austudy, are brought into line with other income support payments. Of particular note is the exemption of periodic gifts or allowances from family members from means testing. This means, importantly, that parents and other family members can now provide financial support to young students without the fear of causing them any problems with Centrelink. This is a good move and is important as a large percentage of students rely on ongoing parental support in order to be able to continue studying, even when they are engaged in some form of paid employment or are receiving income support.

Secondly, this bill ensures that all students who are in receipt of income support receive a Health Care Card from 1 January 2019. Students receiving youth allowance, Austudy and ABSTUDY living allowance will no longer have to qualify for this card as a separate benefit but, rather, will be issued one automatically as other income support recipients are. This measure will see around 240,000 students accessing a range of concessions, including PBS prescriptions at a reduced rate as well as the Extended Medicare Safety Net. Making Health Care Cards available to all independent recipients of student payments acknowledges that young people have limited earning potential whilst undertaking their studies. Labor supports any measure that eases the financial burden on students.

Thirdly, this bill also enables the Australian Statistical Geography Standard's remoteness structure that is used to assess eligibility for student payments to be automatically updated. Youth allowance recipients whose family home is outside of a major city can qualify for additional assistance, such as a relocation scholarship. Whether a location is considered to be outside of a major city is defined by the remoteness structure as published by the Australian Statistician after each Census. Currently the act must be amended each time the remoteness structure is updated. As a result, the act currently relies upon the remoteness structure from 2006. This bill would amend the act to automatically refer to the most up-to-date remoteness structure and to make sure that the instrument is consistent with ABS standards.

Overall, these amendments will have a beneficial impact for students through ensuring consistency across income support, and I am happy to support these particular measures. Labor understands that whilst a small number of recipients may be worse off, it appears that the impact will be minimal and that there is a sound rationale to ensure consistency with means testing arrangements for other payments. Put another way, whilst there are some individual iniquities between some students who are dependent for the purposes of their eligibility and other students who are independent, the overall impact of the measures within this proposed legislation is beneficial.

But let's not fool ourselves here. If Mr Turnbull, the Prime Minister, really wanted to support young people he would not have reintroduced into this parliament measures that will push young people into poverty. The Australian Council of Social Service reports that between 2012 and 2014 poverty rates increased for those receiving youth allowance to over 50 per cent. Research by the Educational Policy Institute found that living costs for university students in Australia are the third highest in the world. It is estimated that two-thirds of Australian university students are living below the poverty line and, as a consequence, are suffering financial stress. This figure is even higher for Indigenous students and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds—and I might say that that is, in particular, people from my electorate of Bass.

The current rate of youth allowance is almost $160 per week below the median income poverty line. Young people need stable and decent living conditions in order to successfully complete their education, which is difficult to achieve without sufficient income. The recent universities conference held here in Canberra highlighted these issues, with representatives noting that the student experience is rapidly changing as a result of needing to balance part-time work with full-time study. Students are facing unprecedented stress from cost-of-living pressures and the associated issues arising from tight financial circumstances.

I would also echo the sentiments of opposition leader Mr Bill Shorten, who recently made the point that this is a government that is at war with young people. Thousands of Australian students employed in the retail and hospitality sectors have just had their penalty rates slashed. These are the people affected by this decision and are typically those who are in low-income households or in insecure work. Students from my electorate of Bass have called this decision 'a real kick in the guts', because they rely on their weekend penalty rates to make ends meet. The nature of university life means that students tend to do more work outside of normal business hours and on weekends so as not to interfere with their studies. Cuts to penalty rates leave students with the unenviable decision of either having to increase their employment hours to maintain their income—thereby potentially compromising their studies—or copping a pay cut that leaves them unable to afford even the basics.

Last week, the member for Gorton visited Bass in his capacity as the shadow minister for employment and workplace relations. I was able to introduce him to Ruby, who is a part-time university student who works in the retail industry and relies on her Sunday penalty rates. Ruby explained to the shadow minister that these cuts to her penalty rates are, in a word, devastating. Ruby said:

I live pay cheque to pay cheque at the moment. I rarely save money. Losing that bit extra makes it a bit harder. People like me in my situation, we spend money on little luxuries that go back into the community and it means I'll have less money to do that, pay the rent and other essentials.

This Liberal government is no friend to Australia's students and young people like Ruby, despite what they seek to introduce by virtue of this legislation. The Prime Minister is pushing ahead with legislation that will leave jobseekers under the age of 25 with nothing to live on for one month. This is a holdover from one of the more toxic zombie measures from the 2014 federal budget—which, I must say, was a low point in fairness, even for this Liberal government. Changes to the eligibility age for Newstart will also push jobseekers that are between the ages of 22 and 24 onto the lower youth allowance, at a loss of $48 a week. This leaves thousands of students worse off—especially when they graduate and are looking to enter the workforce.

Let us not forget that this is the government that also wanted to give our current cohort of students the deregulation of university fees, with the risk—a real risk—that many students would leave university with crippling debt. Many students in this situation might be forced to make a choice between entering the housing market and completing their education to attract high wages. On the issue of the housing market, of course, this government of the rich and privileged, for the rich and privileged fails to take reasonable steps to address housing affordability. An ongoing reluctance to review negative gearing deductions means that first-home buyers are increasingly priced out of the market by investors buying their fourth or fifth property. Even in my home state of Tasmania, the median house price increased by 6.5 per cent in the last quarter, with first-home buyers and young families increasingly competing against well-resourced investors. Young people need support to finish their studies, to find a job or to purchase their first home, not savage attacks that make it harder for them to find a job, to buy a property or to support themselves.

The government has recently moved a fourth amendment to this bill that gives effect to the 2016-17 MYEFO measure, 'regional and remote student access to education—additional support'. This schedule is intended to make it easier for young people from regional and remote areas to qualify as independent for youth allowance purposes. Currently, students from regional or remote areas who need to move from their parental home to study can qualify as independent if, since leaving secondary school, they either have earned, over an 18-month period, 75 per cent or more of wage level A of the National Training Wage Schedule included in a modern award—in the 2016-17 financial year, this was equal to $24,042—or have worked at least 15 hours each week for at least two years. Also, their parents must not have earnt more than $150,000 in the previous tax year. This amendment would allow applicants from regional and remote areas to qualify as independent after only 14 months of paid employment, in accordance with the conditions I have just outlined. As a result of these changes it is expected that 3,700 regional and remote students will qualify as independent. Labor will support this amendment, which makes it easier for young people to access income support for tertiary education.

However, the more cynical amongst us might call this a token effort from the Prime Minister, Mr Turnbull, to shore up his shaky leadership and to appease his colleagues from the National Party. Why else would this government provide assistance to a small group of regional students whilst they still have their cuts to young people before the parliament? If the Prime Minister and his government were truly concerned about opportunities for young people, they would not be trying to make them live on nothing for five weeks or pushing jobseekers under the age of 24 onto youth allowance—a cut of almost $2,500 a year. The icing on the cake, of course, is the cuts to penalty rates, which will have an immediate effect if they are introduced. This government has a choice as to whether it joins Labor in introducing legislation to oppose that. Thank you for receiving my submission on this bill.

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