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Higher Education Review ProcessAchieving Equitable and Appropriate Outcomes: Indigenous Australians in Higher Education3. key government support16 An important factor in achieving National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy (AEP) goals in higher education is prior achievement in school education. This paper, however, does not primarily address improvement in school level qualifications but focuses on achievement in the higher education sector itself. 17 In addition to mainstream educational funding, the Commonwealth allocates resources under a number of targeted programmes within the broad gamut of the AEP with the objective of improving Indigenous outcomes in higher education. Some programmes allocate funds to higher education institutions to assist them in their support of Indigenous students and others allocate funds directly to individuals. The Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) generally administers the former programmes and Centrelink the latter. This section of the paper will outline the main Commonwealth support programmes. a. indigenous support funding18 DEST allocates Indigenous Support Funding (ISF) to higher education institutions as an additional component of annual operating grants under the Higher Education Funding Act 1988. The total quantum of ISF has remained largely constant for some years. In 2002, ISF allocations total $23.7 million compared to $5.3 million in 1996 (2002 prices). The kinds of activities undertaken by universities with this funding include the operation of Indigenous education and support units, assistance with study skills, personal counselling and cultural awareness activities. 19 ISF is shared among institutions using a performance-based formula agreed with the sector in 1998. It is based on student load, progress rates and numbers of award course completions. Each year, through the profiles process, institutions receiving ISF report to DEST on their Indigenous education strategies for the coming triennium and on their performance in the previous year. b. the aboriginal tutorial assistance scheme20 The Aboriginal Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ATAS) was established as a separate scheme in 1990 as part of the AEP with the overall objective of helping Indigenous Australians achieve educational outcomes equal to those of other Australians through supplementary tutorial assistance. Prior to this, tutoring was available under ABSTUDY. Bulk funding arrangements were introduced into most universities in 1995 with payments made to institutions based on student load in the previous year. If an institution does not contain sufficient enrolment for bulk funding, students may receive ATAS through their DEST State Office. In 2001, 35 higher education institutions participated in the ATAS bulk funding programme, between them supporting approximately 5 500 students at a cost of $8.7 million. c. enabling courses21 An ‘enabling’ category was introduced officially into higher education statistics in 1988 to cover courses designed to enable educationally disadvantaged people to progress to award level study. The key equity feature of such courses is that they are HECS-exempt: that is, students are not required to contribute to course costs through payment of HECS. Enabling courses, by definition, do not lead to a recognised award such as a degree or a diploma. 22 Enabling courses are available to students from six designated equity groups including Indigenous Australians. In 2001, 3 749 students participated in these courses, of whom 914, or 24 per cent, were Indigenous Australians. The majority of enabling courses are bridging courses, undertaken before commencing an award course. Most bridging courses are short, generally ranging from a couple of weeks to a semester in length, and they generally cover basic university skills such as report writing, library use and time-management or specific skills for identified types of award courses. Enabling courses may also be taken at the same time as award course study. Data gathered during an analysis of the programme commissioned by the then Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA) showed that in 1998, of the enabling courses directed specifically to Indigenous students, over half involved one year of full-time study and included coverage of generic skills such as literacy, numeracy and study skills. 23 A 1998 DETYA review of the mechanism for allocating Indigenous Support Funding placed a negotiable ‘cap’ on the proportion of Indigenous students in enabling courses for which universities could receive ISF allocations. This cap was introduced in response to concerns that several universities had very high numbers of Indigenous enabling students who were not progressing to award courses. Universities now have processes in place to increase the proportion of Indigenous students in award courses. d. away-from-base: indigenous education strategic initiatives programme24 Away-from-base (AFB) allocations are paid to institutions to assist Indigenous students studying through a combination of distance education and face-to-face teaching (that is, mixed or multi-mode). Students studying in this manner are based in their home communities but have a number of blocks of on-campus tuition to complement the distance education component of the course. Allocations are paid as block grants to institutions under the Indigenous Education Strategic Initiatives Programme (IESIP) administered by DEST and are designed to cover the costs of students’ travel to residential courses together with related accommodation and meals. Students must be enrolled in approved courses and be eligible for ABSTUDY assistance. The AFB programme has outcomes-focused agreements with participating institutions and targets have been set for the quadrennium (2001-2004) covering progress rates and completions. 25 In 2001, 15 higher education institutions were allocated AFB financial assistance of approximately $8.1 million in respect of some 2 000 students. e. arc discovery–indigenous researcher development26 The Australian Research Council supports fundamental research and research training by Indigenous Australian individuals and teams through its Discovery—Indigenous Researcher Development (IRD) grants with the objective of developing the research expertise of Indigenous Australian researchers to a level at which they are competitive in mainstream research funding. 27 Since the scheme commenced in 1996, 53 researchers have received IRD grants, with annual applicant success rates ranging from 21 per cent to 63 per cent. Applicants enrolled in higher research degrees may apply for IRD research grants, with grants being awarded for one to three years. Currently, approximately $220 000 is available each year and, as from this year’s application round, the minimum grant size is $10 000 per annum. 28 A new component of the Australian Research Council programme, Research Cadetship—Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (RC-ATSI), was introduced in the 2002 application round. The RC-ATSI will provide a postdoctoral salary for one or two years to a researcher who has completed a doctorate within the previous three years. f. centrelink abstudy payments29 ABSTUDY is the Aboriginal Study Assistance Scheme. Funding under ABSTUDY is paid through Centrelink and is available to eligible Indigenous Australians to assist them to stay in school or go on to tertiary studies, either in the VET sector or in the higher education sector. The cash expenditure on tertiary ABSTUDY recipients in 2000-2001 was $81.6 million. 30 For eligible students, ABSTUDY is available to assist with expenses related to living, accommodation, education, fares and prescription medicines. The amount of assistance students can receive depends on the course they are studying, their age, whether they need to study away from home, whether they are considered dependent on their parents/care givers and the earnings of their partners or parents/care givers. 31 The ABSTUDY scheme has been in place for some 30 years and many changes have been made during that time. A number of changes, aimed at bringing a new focus to educational outcomes, were introduced in January 2000. 32 These recent changes included an alignment of ABSTUDY living allowances to the mainstream income support system and a related application of the mainstream income, assets and other means tests. ABSTUDY living allowance rates for eligible Indigenous students between 16 and 20 years were aligned with rates for full-time students of corresponding age under the Youth Allowance. For students aged 21 years and over, the ABSTUDY living allowance was aligned with the higher rate of the mainstream Newstart allowance (a job seeker allowance) rather than with the Youth Allowance (full-time student allowance) as an encouragement for older Indigenous people to return to study. Rent assistance, pharmaceutical and remote area allowances became available for eligible students. Any students already receiving ABSTUDY benefits could be ‘grandfathered’ for the duration of their current course, that is, they remained on their previous level of support. 33 Other initiatives introduced in 2000 incorporated changes to supplementary ABSTUDY benefits. These included some alignment with mainstream support services such as the discontinuation of the dependent spouse allowance and an alignment of the minimum journey requirements for approved air travel or sleeping berth under ABSTUDY with those of students under Austudy or Youth Allowance. 34 A further change was the transfer of Away-from-base (AFB) entitlements for students studying through a combination of distance education and residential schools (that is, ‘mixed mode’). These AFB payments are now paid as block grants to institutions under the Indigenous Education Strategic Initiatives Programme (IESIP) administered by DEST. AFB entitlements for non-mixed mode activities (such as field trips, testing and assessment programmes and graduation travel) remained with ABSTUDY, administered by Centrelink. 35 The ABSTUDY Student Financial Supplement Scheme is aligned with corresponding arrangements for Austudy and Youth Allowance and enables eligible students to ‘trade-in’ part or all of their living allowance for a loan on a dollar for two-dollar basis. The loan is not paid as a bulk payment up front but on a fortnightly basis. Students are expected to commence repaying the loan in the fifth year from the date when they first received it if their income is greater than $34 493. 36 The number of higher education students receiving ABSTUDY allowances decreased slightly in 2001 although the number of recipients at VET level continued to increase (table 1). In 2001, there were also 1 273 full-time and 103 part-time Indigenous students in the tertiary sector (that is, in higher education and in VET) receiving Youth Allowance. table 1. students receiving ABSTUDY allowances, 1999 to 2001
Source: Data for 1999: DEST (unpublished); data for 2000 and 2001: Centrelink (unpublished). g. pensioner education supplement37 Students are eligible for ABSTUDY pensioner education supplement (PES) if they are studying full-time or are eligible for a workload concession and are receiving a social security or Department of Veterans’ Affairs income support supplement because they are disabled, sole parents or carers. Students who are eligible for PES cannot receive the ABSTUDY Living Allowance. In 2000, ABSTUDY PES was aligned with mainstream PES. 38 Eligible full-time students and part-time students on a Disability Support Pension, Invalidity Service Pension or Invalidity Support Supplement receive a tax-exempt payment of $60 per fortnight under PES. Other eligible part-time students need to maintain at least 50 per cent of a normal full-time workload to receive this amount. If they are undertaking less than a 50 per cent workload they receive $30 per fortnight. 39 The PES may also be traded in under a similar arrangement to that of the ABSTUDY / Austudy / Youth Allowance Student Financial Supplement Scheme. h. other commonwealth support40 Between 1996 and 2001, the Commonwealth allocated $11.8 million to establish six Indigenous Higher Education Centres with the purpose of encouraging the development of research skills, advanced teaching and academic excellence within the Indigenous community and helping to nurture and promote Australian Indigenous cultural heritage. Host universities also contributed considerable resources to the Centres. The Centres are undertaking very useful work, however, they have all had difficulty achieving full financial viability despite expectations to the contrary. 41 In 1996, the Commonwealth funded a related programme through the Open Learning Association (OLA). A total of $583 000 was allocated through OLA to the University of South Australia to develop the Indigenous On-Line Network, an application of open learning style technology to foster communications among Indigenous intellectuals, provide a forum for the publication of Indigenous academic research and deliver courses to Indigenous communities. 42 The National Indigenous Cadetship Project (NICP) is a Commonwealth Government initiative, administered by the Indigenous Employment Branch in the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, aimed at improving the professional employment prospects of Indigenous Australians. It provides opportunities for Indigenous Australians to gain the professional qualifications needed for a range of jobs in both the public and private sectors by matching students who intend studying full time in an undergraduate degree at university with employers who can give them work skills and professional employment experience. |
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Any comments or
queries should be sent to:
highered@dest.gov.au
Department of Education, Science and Training
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