“That ICPA (Aust) continues to advocate to the Federal Government and the Minister for Social Services for an increase to the Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Basic Boarding Allowance of at least $4000 and the alignment of the allowance to the Consumer Price Index: Education sub index to assist geographically isolated students’ access to boarding school.”
We sincerely thank ICPA (Aust) for its strong advocacy to see this measure included in the 2024-25 Federal Budget, which disappointingly did not occur.
At its inception in 1973, the intention of the AIC Boarding Allowance was to cover at least 55% of average boarding fees across Australia. At present, the allowance is barely covering 40% in some states.
An increase of $4000 per student would restore the allowance to its original intent. The alignment of the allowance to the Education sub index would ensure the allowance did not erode over time and was reflective of the true costs of educational expenses.
Affordable education goes to the heart of rural and remote communities and their sustainability. If geographically isolated families cannot afford to send their children away to boarding school to access a secondary education, we will continue to experience the mass exodus of families from these communities, the impact of which most probably will not be noticed by mainstream Australia until local butcher, grocery stores and supermarket shelves are void of Australian made produce. Access to affordable education does not only affect rural and remote families. It affects the entire country which relies on these families to feed it, and it affects the national economy which is reliant on agricultural exports. The AIC Basic Boarding Allowance is not a welfare payment. It is an education ACCESS payment and should be treated as such by the Federal Government.
