Recognition of student need a positive step

The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) welcomes announcements in the 2007-2008 Federal Budget that recognise some targeted areas of student need, particularly in the case of postgraduates, and hopes that these set the foundation for improvements in access to student income support and broader equity measures in the future.

"We welcome the will on the part of the Federal Government to at least recognise that there are in fact areas of genuine student need, and take steps to begin to address them" CAPA President, Nigel Palmer said.

"In particular CAPA applauds the Federal Government finally moving forward on two issues that CAPA has been pursuing for many years: allowing Austudy recipients access to rent assistance, and allowing coursework masters students access to Austudy and Youth Allowance."

This second measure may appear to be a breakthrough, however access will only be open to those enrolled in coursework masters programs approved by the Minister as an entry requirement to a profession, or where their program is the result of a restructure of existing course requirements.

Clearly there are a number of measures here that anticipate trends in the sector along the lines of the so-called 'Melbourne Model', including ensuring the availability of some Commonwealth Supported Places for coursework masters students. On the one hand this is a positive sign as it recognises some of the negative equity implications in this area. Other measures outlined in the budget are more problematic, including removing the cap on full fee undergraduate places. Overall however we look forward to building on initiatives in this Budget that confirm that government does have a role in addressing equity issues in the higher education sector. We look forward to working with the Minister in expanding on these in the future."