Students Should Receive Full Benefit of Scholarships
Australian Democrats' Higher Education Spokesperson Senator Natasha Stott Despoja today gave notice that she will introduce legislation to ensure disadvantaged students receive the full benefit of their scholarships.
"My bill would remove anomalies in the treatment of scholarships by the Tax Office and Centrelink which severely diminish the benefits students gain from them," Senator Stott Despoja said.
"It abolishes the distinction between part-time and full-time scholarships, to make all scholarships tax free, and ensures university cash scholarships are not subject to the Social Security income test."
The Democrats previously ensured the tax exemption of full-time scholarships was maintained, but part-time scholarships are currently taxed. Senator Stott Despoja's bill addresses this, by extending the tax exemption to part-time scholarships [1].
The bill also removes the distinction between Commonwealth Learning Scholarships and university-based cash scholarships by creating a new class of university scholarships which are exempt from Social Security income tests.
Overwhelming evidence presented to the Democrat-initiated Senate inquiry into student income support (due to report next week) found these issues were placing a significant burden on students.
"The Howard Government's policies have left many university students in severe financial hardship by further shifting the costs of higher education on to students, while closing some student support schemes and restricting the eligibility for others," Senator Stott Despoja said.
"The student income support inquiry heard terrible evidence about the lengths to which students are going to supplement their income support payments and support themselves through their studies.
"Unlike the Government, the Democrats have long acknowledged the importance of student income support measures in increasing the participation of students from low socio-economic backgrounds.
"The challenge now is for the Government and Labor to decide whether they are content to allow students living below the poverty line to continue to lose crucial scholarship funds when they are granted a cash or part-time scholarship from a university," Senator Stott Despoja said.
[1] If they satisfy the same criteria as the tax-exempt full-time scholarships
