That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the relevant ministers to permit the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate (PACER) for students travel to Canberra to be calculated from their geographical place of learning for rural and remote Students.
The Parliament and Civics Education Rebate (PACER) is an Australian Government initiative designed to subsidise travel costs for students in Years 4–12 visiting Canberra for civics and citizenship education. Eligibility requires schools to be located at least 150 kilometres from Canberra, with rebates increasing based on distance. For instance, in 2024, rebates ranged from $30 per student for distances of 150–499 km, up to $510 for distances over 4,000 km. The School of the Air (SOTA) in South Australia, administered through Open Access College, serves geographically remote students across the state. Its school location is in Port Augusta. In 2021, the 2025 government allowed SOTA's PACER rebate calculations to be based on Port Augusta rather than Adelaide, acknowledging the school's actual location.
However, this approach does not fully address the realities faced by SOTA families. Many students reside in areas significantly farther from Port Augusta, some over 700 km away. Consequently, the travel expenses from these remote locations to Canberra are substantially higher, and the current rebate structure does not adequately offset these costs. Our travel time can be in excess of 10 hours to get to the airport in Adelaide for our children to go to Canberra, yet schools in Tasmania are automatically classed as Zone 5 because of their air/travel expenses yet this is likely to be less costly. The current PACER rebate method does not consider the additional distances and associated costs incurred by students traveling from their actual residences to the school's administrative base before proceeding to Canberra.
To address this discrepancy, a more pragmatic approach would involve calculating PACER rebates based on the actual distances students travel from their homes to Canberra. This would provide a fairer subsidy, reflecting the unique circumstances of distance education students and place them in a different zone.
