Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Morrison government is increasing efficiency and improving ways that students can access Abstudy and the Assistance for Isolated Children, or AIC, Scheme. This bill will help to reduce unnecessary red tape and enhance consistency in the collection and management of information. The proposed changes are needed to improve the effective administration of the Abstudy and AIC schemes and allow the machinery of Services Australia to have a greater level of efficiency. Many students in my electorate of Lindsay rely on these payments to enable them to upskill and take on the opportunities that improve their education and employment prospects. Abstudy helps Indigenous Australians to undertake study and training from secondary school through to postgraduate study, many from remote areas, with study, living and travel expenses. Many of these students must move away from home to study and the Abstudy scheme provides Indigenous students with financial assistance to do so.

The additional assistance provided under Abstudy is specifically targeted at addressing educational disadvantage to close the gap. In 2019-20 the Australian government invested around $320 million in the Abstudy scheme. In 2020 around 27,000 students were assisted through Abstudy. AIC is an ongoing scheme that provides assistance to isolated families whose children cannot attend an appropriate state school due to geographic isolation, disability or other special needs. In 2019-20 the Australian government invested around $83 million in the AIC Scheme, assisting around 13,000 students. These are incredibly important services that make a tremendous difference in the lives of Australians embarking on their own education journey.

In my electorate of Lindsay there are over 6,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The Minister for Indigenous Australians and I met—unfortunately it was virtually with COVID last year—with local Indigenous representatives and community health providers to ensure that people in my community were getting the help they needed during the coronavirus pandemic. While we couldn't be there in person, Minister Wyatt recorded a message. It was really quite special because it was around his personal journey through education and to encourage local people, particularly kids in my community, to think about their future and what they want for their own education journey and careers. Minister Wyatt said that if he hadn't followed through on his education and didn't have those opportunities he in fact wouldn't be in this place. He spoke very passionately about the teachers who have influenced him, even from year 1. This set the foundation from an early age to value his education. Minister Wyatt learned to value his education so much so that he got his Bachelor of Education and became a teacher, passing on that lesson to his students and he continues to do that now.

Education plays a pivotal role in putting kids in our community on the pathways to local jobs, and that is absolutely essential, ensuring that all children in my community of Lindsay have opportunities when it comes to education and then in turn getting into local jobs. I don't see that more than in parts of my community that do wonderful work in supporting kids to stay engaged in school, to keep up their schooling, ensuring that they are supported with things like getting picked up from home if they need to and going to a breakfast club. That's a really important service that's provided to local people in my community.

These amendments are technical in nature. For example, currently the Social Security Act defines the term 'social security law'. It includes the Social Security Act, the Social Security (Administration) Act and the Social Security (International Agreements) Act, which are the main parts of the social security legislative scheme. This bill amends the definition of the term 'social security law' to confirm that it includes any legislative instrument made under one of the acts, strengthening the Student Assistance Act in matters relating to Abstudy and the AIC schemes, and clarifies the definition of 'social security law'.

As you can see, while these proposed changes are largely technical and mechanical in nature, they are important for the people who rely on these systems to access a quality education, including the Indigenous students in my electorate of Lindsay and those right across Australia, as well as isolated students. It improves efficiencies, delivering a better service. We want all Australians to have access to a first-class education, and these programs ensure that these opportunities are available for more Australians.

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