That ICPA (Aust) advocates to 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.
According to ICPA (Aust) figures, the 2022 the average boarding fees in NSW was $24,345, Qld $21, 235, SA $23,304 and WA $23,315. In 2023 the AIC Basic Boarding Allowance is $9396 per student per year. Without factoring in boarding fee increases which would have no doubt occurred in the 2023 year, the AIC BBA is not even covering 50% of boarding fees if using these averages as a measuring stick. An increase of $4000 to the Allowance would see at least 55% of boarding fees covered and assist to counteract the rising costs of living expenses being experienced across Australia. 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.
With an estimated 4000 geographically isolated students receiving the AIC Basic Boarding Allowance per year, increasing this allowance to an amount which reflects the actual cost of a boarding school in Australia in 2023 and beyond is a small but sound investment not only for educational outcomes for students but for the entire nation.
