The new youth allowance and access to higher education

In mid-1998 the Australian Government implemented a new payment system for student financial assistance in which the Youth Allowance replaced Austudy. An analysis of recipient rates as of September 1998 showed that only 37 per cent of full-time undergraduates were accessing the payment. It is argued that the severity of the means test is such that it excludes students from households with modest incomes and that this is contributing significantly to their low participation rates in higher education. Previous article ends on p. 19 Copyright. Monash University and the author/s