Page 1611 - Week 05 - Thursday, 15 May 2014
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The national partnership on financial assistance for long-stay older patients will end from July 2014. It was worth $4 million to the ACT in 2013-14 and will impact on older people in hospital awaiting nursing home accommodation.
On top of all this, adult dental services will be gone from July 2015. In addition, patients who had previously been bulk-billed for GP visits, pathology and imaging will be required to pay the co-payment, the $7 sick tax, per visit.
In education the commonwealth has abandoned all previous commitments to increasing funding by 4.7 per cent plus enrolment growth, and has reduced funding growth to CPI plus enrolment growth from 2018 onwards.
The removal of fee caps on commonwealth-supported places for new students from January 2016 will hit students financially. It will dramatically change Australia’s higher education system, with universities competing in a more market-driven environment. It will tip the balance of student admissions in favour of money over merit. Students will have to worry more about having the financial means to pay the anticipated higher fees rather than getting in on merit. Our smaller universities, such as the University of Canberra, may have to consider reducing their student fees to ensure enrolments remain high, as fee deregulation gives the nation’s larger research universities enormous financial advantages.
For all of Mr Pyne’s pre-election lip-service to teacher quality, the Liberal government has cut funding promised for the centre for quality teaching and learning at the University of Canberra. Of the $26 million committed, $25 million will not be paid.
The ANU will lose $6.4 million as the commonwealth ceases funding for the HC Coombs policy forum.
The national partnership on Indigenous early childhood development was worth $1.1 million to the ACT in 2013-14 and supported the great work of the West Belconnen Child and Family Centre in my electorate. The Liberal government terminated this agreement in the budget.
In essence the commonwealth has abandoned a number of national agreements agreed by COAG, and this federal budget will hurt the disadvantaged and those on lower incomes in our community more than those on higher incomes.
Changes to the disability support pension will see 1,700 Canberrans under the age of 35 have to reapply and re-prove their level of disability to remain in receipt of the disability support pension. In 2011, 3.3 per cent of the ACT population identified as having a profound or severe disability and needing assistance in one or more core activities. Of those who identified as providing unpaid care to a person with a disability in the ACT, 60 per cent were females. Pausing indexation on the disability support pension will therefore hurt women disproportionately.
Changes to the Newstart program will require all jobseekers up to 30 years of age to wait six months before receiving payments. This will affect school leavers, CIT
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