Page 1484 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 6 April 2011
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Interestingly, the Australian National University’s parking and transport office currently has an arrangement with CityRail to allow its student cardholders to be entitled to concessional fares whilst in New South Wales. If it is good enough for those students, there can be no argument against a similar entitlement for all our concessional students.
There are many students, particularly those that live in colleges and that come from other states, that cannot access concessional fares when they travel home to Victoria or Queensland. I am delighted to say that the ANU Students Association have expressed their full support for this initiative. Their president, Leah Ginnivan, is a classic example of a student disadvantaged by non-recognition of student concession cards. Leah is from the border city of Wodonga and studies and lives at the ANU but is forced to pay adult fares when she regularly returns home to Victoria to study or to see family.
The main beneficiaries of a national card would be tertiary students, given their comparatively greater independence. The other benefits for students of a reciprocal transport arrangement include greater ease of movement within the state, increased social inclusion, reduced student disadvantage and an enhanced sense of personal security. For the receiving jurisdiction, the benefits may include such things as reduced use of private cars, reduced environmental impact and improved safety of students.
But the issue goes further than just providing a discounted rate of travel for these students. I believe a national system should consider the issuing of a standardised card which could be universally recognised by service providers. This is important for several reasons. Many student cards are very basic. They vary in form and are not universally recognised as formal identification. Another reason is that young people that do not drive may not have a licence and therefore may not have any form of identification to use regularly. Right now they would have to seek a state government-issued proof of age card if they do not want to rely on their passport or a birth certificate. A national student concession card could offer students another form of identity to largely replace issued proof of age cards. Service providers may provide services other than transport systems which seek to offer concessional rates to students, and this may include other government agencies.
The theme of Youth Week is “own it”, which aims to encourage young people to become involved in something they are passionate about. I encourage young people to take a stand on this issue and make it their own. In the short time since putting this motion on the notice paper, an online petition for a national student concession card has begun, supported by the National Union of Students. Many hundreds of students have already signed the petition, with more being added as we speak. Their actions demonstrate clearly that students want this reform.
Finally, there is no doubt that there is a developing groundswell of support by students across the country. It is imperative that today we send a clear message to our student community that our goal will be to achieve cross-jurisdictional recognition of travel concessions, regardless of whether you live in Canberra, Candelo or Coalcliff. And for those people that do not know where Coalcliff is—
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