That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate (PACER) program to review and amend the Schooling Resource Standard Base and Calculations Methodology (SRS Review), particularly the zoning for geographically isolated students, so that rebates consider the distance required to travel from a student's geographical address of learning to the School of Distance Education location, rather than base the rebate solely on the address of their School of Distance Education location.
The PACER program currently determines eligibility and rebate levels for distance education students using the postcode of their distance education school. This approach does not accurately reflect the actual location of students, nor the significant distances they travel and costs they incur to attend interstate excursions. Revising PACER zoning to recognise distance education students would ensure more equitable access and reflect the true costs of participation for distance education students. This would assist schools with the additional costs and operational expenses regional and remote areas incur as their distance from metropolitan centres increases. Case Study:
In 2024, Alice Springs School of the Air students attended an interstate excursion to Canberra. PACER classified these students as ‘Remote’ using postcode 0871, which corresponds to the location of their distance education school. The students reside in postcode 0872, which PACER classifies as ‘Very Remote’. Had the students been correctly zoned based on the location of their classrooms the school would have received an additional $150 per student in funding. As a result, distance education students are disadvantaged compared to their peers, despite facing significantly higher travel costs (see table in booklet).
