Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 03 Hansard (Wednesday, 10 March 2004) . . Page.. 1033 ..

hours and so avert the detrimental effects heavy work commitments prompted by economic necessity have on academic performance. This is of particular concern for students whose family income is sufficient to exclude them from youth allowance but is not high enough that their families are able to support them while studying.

The AVCC’s 2000 survey on undergraduate student finances, Paying their Way, revealed that full-time students worked an average of 14.4 hours a week, or nearly two days every week, to meet their living costs. This is nearly three times the hours worked by students in 1984. The number of students forced to work has also increased, with 70 per cent of all Australian students in paid employment compared with 50 per cent 20 years ago. But it is a catch-22 for many students on government allowances. They need to work to supplement their support payments but then the more they earn the less support payments they receive.

Students can earn only up to $236 a fortnight before their payments are reduced. To get around this, many students do cash-in-hand work, but conditions and pay levels in these types of jobs are often below the Australian standards. Others limit their work so they can earn just below the $236 per fortnight but say that, although their payments remain the same, the extra money they earn makes little difference when it comes to paying the bills and living costs.

It is evident that the entire student support system needs to be reviewed to better reflect the living costs students face today. Australian students are already under enough pressure trying to complete their degrees. The added burden of worrying about how they will afford to pay bills and living costs each week is often too much to bear and more students are dropping out of university for financial reasons.

The AVCC’s 2000 report Forward from the Crossroads revealed that many students identify the financial need to undertake employment as a problem for their studies. Nearly one in every 10 students who are employed “frequently” miss classes because of work and nearly two in every 10 students in paid employment say that the work adversely affects their study “a great deal”. The report also addressed whether financial circumstances had influenced the choice students had made in respect of courses of study and mode of study, and revealed that:

• Financial circumstances had influenced the choice of 11.1 per cent of all students. The percentage was similar for full-time and part-time students.

• The choice of university was influenced by financial circumstances for 17.4 per cent of students. The percentages were slightly higher for full-time rather than part-time students.

• Financial circumstances influenced the choice of mode of study of 23.3 per cent of students. The percentages for part-time students were substantially higher than for full-time.

The AVCC report supplied a full list of quotes from Australian students on the difficulties they face juggling work and study commitments. To read but a few:

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .