Darren Chester MP

August 8, 2010

The Nationals in Government will amend the controversial Youth Allowance legislation to allow all Gippsland students to achieve the independent rate under relaxed workforce participation rules.

Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has hailed the policy announcement as a ‘breakthrough for common sense’ and an opportunity to help more Gippsland students attend university in the future.

“This is great news for Gippsland and Latrobe Valley students,” Mr Chester said.

July 14, 2010

The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester is calling on the new Federal Education Minister to immediately overhaul the Youth Allowance ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ classification rules which discriminate against regional students in Gippsland.

Mr Chester said the changes implemented by former Education Minister and now Prime Minister Julia Gillard have created artificial divisions between towns, and even within individual classrooms.

Under the Gillard model, students who live in towns such as Sale, Maffra and Yarram are classed as ‘inner regional’ meaning they face tougher eligibility requirements than students who may live a few kilometres away but are classified as ‘outer regional’.

April 15, 2010

The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has used National Youth Week (NYW) to call on the State and Federal Labor Governments to do more for young people in regional areas.

Mr Chester has been advocating for greater government investment to provide better opportunities for young people from regional areas to reach their full potential since being elected to Federal Parliament.

As part of Youth Week activities, Mr Chester has met with Wellington Youth Council and addressed school groups throughout Gippsland and the Latrobe Valley.

April 6, 2010

Eligible regional students can access scholarships worth up to $5300 as part of the changes to Youth Allowance which commenced operation last week.

But The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has warned that there is still a long way to go to adequately support regional students who need to move to Melbourne to study.

Changes to Youth Allowance which commenced on April 1, 2010 include:

March 22, 2010

The system of student income support for regional areas should be completely overhauled, according to The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester.

Mr Chester has accused the Rudd Labor Government of tinkering around the edges and disadvantaging many regional areas with its changes to Youth Allowance.

He is set to meet with Wellington Youth Shire Council next week and will discuss measures for helping young people achieve their full potential.

March 17, 2010

The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester says there is a lot of work to be done before regional students get a fair deal on student income support, despite a breakthrough in Youth Allowance negotiations.

Mr Chester said the Federal Minister for Education Julia Gillard had done a backflip on some of her proposed changes to Youth Allowance but hadn’t addressed the fundamental issue of equity for regional students required to leave home to study.

He has also criticised the new system which will discriminate against some regional students under a bureaucratic definition of ‘rural’ and ‘remote’.

February 4, 2010

Thousands of regional university students face an uncertain future because the Federal Minister for Education has failed to clean up the mess she created with her failed attempt to change Independent Youth Allowance.

The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has urged the Minister to split the controversial bill and immediately provide scholarships and new income thresholds for students seeking income support.

“We will give the non-controversial aspects of the bill a red carpet ride through Parliament if the Minister is fair dinkum about providing certainty and support for regional university students,” Mr Chester said.

January 19, 2010

The Rudd Labor Government has warned students who finished Year 12 in 2009 that it intends to press ahead with changes to the Youth Allowance system that will make it more difficult for regional students planning to undertake a ‘gap’ year.

The government has placed advertisements in daily newspapers which warn students that changes proposed in the May 2009 Budget had not been approved by Parliament but would be considered again “early this year”.

The advertisement states:
“Students finishing Year 12 now and considering taking a gap year before going to uni should be aware that the current arrangements would change if the government’s legislation is approved.”

January 6, 2010

Fixing the Youth Allowance debacle as soon as Federal Parliament resumes should be the Rudd Labor Government’s New Year’s resolution according to The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester.

Mr Chester said Gippsland students remained in limbo as to what financial support would be available to them should they decide to pursue their university ambitions because the Federal Education Minister had refused to work with the Opposition to clean up the mess the proposed changes have created.

“It’s distressing for students across Gippsland who are waiting for their first-round university offers because they have no certainty about what levels of government assistance will be available to them should they move away from home to pursue university studies,” Mr Chester said.

December 18, 2009

The campaign to improve income support for Gippsland students has received a boost with a Senate Committee recommending the implementation of a Tertiary Access Allowance worth $10,000 per year for students forced to move away from home to attend university.

The Nationals Member for Gippsland Darren Chester described the recommendations in the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee’s report as ‘a breakthrough for common sense’.

A total of eight recommendations have been made as part of the committee’s inquiry into Rural and Regional Access to Secondary and Tertiary Education Opportunities.