...The author makes many relevant points concerning the apparent discrimination of Abstudy payments, and the article is well written from the perspective of one living in a community such as Moree, where racial segregation is most apparent: But, as a member of the Moree community, she should also be aware of the starkness in living standards between Aboriginals living on the mission site on the Gwydir Highway, and the town community.

...It cannot be denied that Aboriginals in the main, live a gruelling and segregated life outside of white society, which necessitates Government innovations such as Abstudy, to assist them in a chance to achieve equality.

...On my many visits to the Moree spar pools, I have never observed an Aboriginal face in the crowd, (apart from a couple of kids that entered in our party and, I might add, were given their own personal official observer to oversee law and order issues on site, (how rude)).

to assist them in a chance to achieve equality.
diver dan,
with all respect, my experience after 30 years is that that's the last thing the majority of indigenous aspire to. Why, because equality has one serious side-effect, responsibility.

These are simply racist policies that allow one group of people more rights or entitlements than another. Many people can't see through this scam. The best test I can think of is to just change around the colours of the various groups that the rules apply to. If it is considered racist when applied to any group then it should be applied to no groups at all. In other words would we all readily accept whites getting these extra benefits the author has listed on the ABSTUDY website, at the expense of the rest of the population. I think most would not, thus the policy should be scrapped.
It seems whites are the only group that racist policies are allowed to disadvantage and what's worse is that this is just so readily accepted in today's society.
There are just so many policies where certain groups are entitled to extra benefits at the expense of the rest of the population. These should all be ceased.

Careful there Ozzie, if you start to apply that policy to race, you'll end up having to apply it to gender as well.

I have no doubt that the feninatzies have all ready issued a contract on you. People like you are far too dangerous to the cause, for the "ladies" for them to let you hang around.

...The tribal instincts of Aboriginals tends to confine them, as a group, to behaviours outside desires of integration into the white society. One of the ways to promote integration under those circumstances is to encourage them, by such means as Abstudy grants, to move outside their confined square.

...I have noticed though, even with this extra help, those Aboriginals who take advantage of the extra privilege Abstudy is, are ostracised in their own group as a result, often resulting in a life in no-mans-land; not fitting anywhere in society. The same cannot be said for ethnic groups or those in the white society. Added to that argument, we owe it to them to assist with extra help where possible, to improve their lot, if they are motivated to do so: I don’t see a problem with that!

Ozzie, I'm probably a lot more "full on" about the White thing than most people and I don't have a problem with Abstudy or extra benefits for Aboriginals, neither do the other racialists I associate with. You can't compare White people with Aborigines, we're different and within different ethnic groups there is significant diversity in intelligence, temperament and natural ability regarding scholarship. What are we really talking about here? Egalitarianism is the problem, we can oppose formal racial equality and still be a just society, people with special needs do require special consideration, doesn't that make more sense? Maybe the state could ask Aboriginal elders or land councils to nominate young people for special scholarships on the understanding that once they qualify in say, medicine, law, social work or nursing that they return to work within their community. That way you could focus educational assistance upon not only the brightest people but the most civic minded and ethnocentric individuals, thus building an educated Aboriginal elite.

What's the difference between Austudy & Abstudy, and who on this forum have children that have recieved Abstudy?

Hear Hear Kathryn.
I would personally advocate restricting Newstart payments to just 4 weeks. If you can't find a new job in that time, go on to Austudy; paid on an hourly basis or on modules completed.
The first step towards a just and happy society is not just getting people into work, but giving people the opportunity to find work they actually don't mind doing.
And giving people the choice not between sitting on their butts watching TV or working, but working at school or working at a real job for more money.
My own university aged daughter has upbraided me on a number of occasions for being a whitefella.

@Grim
Well that I wouldn't agree with that Grim, the job market is pretty tough at the moment, and some people can't find work in four weeks - particularly if they are highly qualified and the recruitment processes for their kinds of jobs take some time. And not everybody wants to reskill, my minor take out point there was that it's dumb that unemployed people get paid more to survive than students.

@bubblez
Austudy is only available to students over 25 and is less than Newstart at $402.70 per fortnight. (Students under 25 are on Youth Allowance). Plus you have to apply for things like health care cards, you don't get them automatically. If you are long term unemployed they match Newstart. As of July 1 I understand it is now available for people studying Masters degrees, it didn't used to be, but it is not available for people studying PhDs and I may be wrong but I think it is not available for people studying second degrees - those people can still apply for Newstart but they still have to comply with the employment participation of Newstart, they aren't left alone to study.

Abstudy is a base payment that ranges from being equal to Youth Allowance or Newstart up to $907.60 a fortnight for people studying Masters or Doctorates, plus scholarships, grants and other payments most of which are here - http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/enablers/centrelink/abstudy/abstudy-payments and there is a link from that page to the scholarships but the amounts of the scholarships are not listed. It varies greatly depending on circumstance obviously.

Do people who receive Abstudy have to pay HECS?

Perhaps we scrap Abstudy and replace it with Bigotstudy so 'these people' who don't know how to use Google can get educated!

Let's not forget Abstudy is means tested & was first introduced in 1968 by PM John Gorton's Coalition government.

Abstudy was originally aimed at improving indigenous students' employment prospects by providing financial assistance for their post-secondary education.

& this from the AHRC:
Generally, Indigenous peoples receive the same level of public benefits as non-Indigenous people. Individuals do not receive additional public benefits because they are Indigenous.

However, specific government programs, not additional income, have been introduced for Indigenous peoples because they are the most economically and socially disadvantaged group in Australia. Special programs are necessary to help overcome disadvantage.

These programs supplement those available to the mainstream population and provide a culturally appropriate alternative. They are necessary because Indigenous peoples do not generally use mainstream services at the same rate as non-Indigenous people and because the level of Indigenous disadvantage is much more severe. These programs aim to close the inequality gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Medical and legal services for low income and migrant communities are also available in Australia and many non-Indigenous people utilise Aboriginal Medical Services.
http://www.humanrights.gov.au/racial_discrimination/face_facts/chap1.html#1_5

Hi Jay,

Of course Indigenous students have to pay HECS or whatever it may be called today.

I've been out of direct involvement for some time, but I always thought that payments under both ABSTUDY and AUSTUDY were more or less the same - I remember one student who was cut off ABSTUDY because she was only twenty and had not worked for two years between school and uni, something like that.

How long are you staying on our planet, Diver Dan ? I don't think the vast majority of Indigenous students have any trouble at all with their identity as both university students AND as Indigenous people, these days. Along with their various other identities, of course.

Since 1990, around ninety thousand Indigenous people have commenced university study. Taking into account post-grads (about ten thousand), second-degree and transfers and repeats, it is likely that about at least sixty thousand Indigenous people have commenced award-level study since 1990.

To put this in perspective, about 140,000 Indigenous people have reached the current median age for Indigenous university students, about 25-26. Two-thirds of those students have been women, so if you do the maths, forty out of seventy thousand women, and twenty out of seventy thousand men, hae commenced university study for the first time.

2011 statistical data have been published early this year, and show record numbers of commencements (5400), continuations (6400), enrolments (11,800) and graduations (1742) for 2011, a steady rise of about 8 % p.a. in degree-level and post-grad enrolments. To put THOSE numbers into some kind of perspective, the number of Indigenous people in the median age group for Indigenous students is about 8,000.

Total graduate numbers could reach thirty thousand by the end of this year.

A recent news item spoke of Warwick secondary school in Queensland, where pretty much all of the Indigenous kids were scoring more highly than the school or grade average. Young people are seizing university opportunities more than ever, and there is little that the pseudo-Left can do to stop that, thank Christ.

Congratulations on a very useful article, Cathy.

Joe

Desert Fish,

After reading those pages from AHRC it seems to be a gross misrepresentation of the facts according to the Abstudy and Austudy payment tables cited earlier in the discussion. I think I need to write to the AHRC and ask them to explain this apparent contradiction.
Yet more Leftist Propaganda.

Thanks.

@Desert fish
Please refer me to the government program that will pay for a non-indigenous high-school child of an impoverished background in an isolated area $8k in a lump sum, plus some more direct to the school, plus a fortnightly living allowance, plus, plus, to go to boarding school in the city instead of doing school of the air.

Please refer me to the Centrelink benefit that will pay $900 or so a fortnight as a basic living allowance for a non-indigenous person to study a masters or doctorate.

Answer those two, and I'm more than happy to revisit the issue of whether or not you do or don't get more for just being black. Because on this point thus far the answer would seem to be: Yes.

The AHRC is actually wrong when they say that you don't get additional income, and it's only special programs, unless they are counting the much higher payment rates of Abstudy as a program which they shouldn't be.

Do special programs need to be in place to help overcome disadvantage? Yes - I said that in the post. Have your Indigenous study support centers and alternative entry pathways and scholarships.

But the base level of support has to be the same, and it has to be the same rules, and it has to be called the same thing, or this question of equality is always going to be raised.
- Kathryn

Abstudy & Austudy have no proven track record so why not replace them both with a two-year non-military National Service ?

...Well Joe, you win the award for living in the ideal world!

First of all, I thought you were meant do the research so go ask Centrelink & AHRC yourself!

I highly doubt there's many 'white' kids in remote communities who go without & I'm sure some of the station owners would be real happy to swap places with some bush community Aboriginal (or 'black' as you like to refer to us) families and the dilapidated housing stocks with the 'brand new' refurbed kitchens or bathrooms they were 'gifted' as well!?

If you really want to look at rorts then ask Nigel Scullion (CLP senator who supports Abstudy) about how much was wasted on SIHIP or Income Management and who benefits most from the intervention, Canberra's non-Indigenous next gen red tape robots.

Perhaps there needs to be better streamlining of systems but it's easy for this to just be thinly vieled 'black bashing' so don't wave the banner of 'equality for all' one minute then turn your back when it suits (namely when the RDA was suspended for the NTER/Intervention)... it's called consistency!
PS. When was the last time you walked a mile (in a remote community)?

@Desert Fish... I'd already done the research.
If the assistance is for geographic isolation I would have no problem with that, but pay it on that basis, not on race. In which case yes, a non-indigenous child of say a stock hand on a remote station - but not the station owner due to means testing/eligibility - would equally be able to go to boarding school with the same level of government assistance. That is not currently the case.

I use indigenous and non-indigenous in most of my writing. I use black and white when quoting or referring to those who taught me, because those blackfellas, whom I adore and have enormous respect for, only use the fancy words when the suits from Canberra are around. They say black kids and white kids the rest of the time. As I was talking about a principle they had taught me in the post it seemed appropriate to use the language they had taught me the principle in. This post was originally on my blog and only for my normal audience - I probably should have cleaned it up before it got reposted here but whatever.

I don't support the intervention. I think you may have tried to imply that there, so I just wanted to state that.

-Kathryn

Desert Fish,
Just purely for information, how much school attendance money do the kids get paid in your neck of the woods ?

G'day Kathryn,
I couldn't agree more that the current job market is tough. I'm over 50 and I'm on Austudy because
a) since I haven't been able to get work, I obviously need to reskill, whether I like it or not,
b) I got sick and tired of doing the same application rounds week after week and being rejected,
c) doing something is a helluva lot better than doing nothing.
Your other points: just because you start study doesn't mean you have to stop looking for work, I still am.
Yes Austudy should be at least as much as Newstart. One should always be paid more for doing something than doing nothing; and the more you do the more you should be paid. That is why I suggest payments should be on an hourly basis, or per module basis for online students.
Why shouldn't the basic rules of the 'real world' also apply in education?
People who don't want to change careers can almost always go for higher qualifications in their existing or allied fields.
Here in regional Qld schools are empty for the greater part of every day. What a waste.