That ICPA (Aust) advocates for the Australian Government to formally recognise, within the National Education Strategy, the unique educational needs of rural and remote children identified under the Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Scheme as a key target group. This recognition should ensure equitable financial support for all geographically isolated students, regardless of their eligibility pathway.
Students identified within the AIC Scheme face unique educational challenges because of geographic isolation and should be afforded the same recognition and consideration as other key target groups, including ABSTUDY recipients, international students and students with disability.
Rural and remote families often incur significant additional costs to access educational opportunities that are readily available to metropolitan students. These costs may include travel, boarding, distance education support and supervision arrangements. Despite these challenges, geographically isolated students are not consistently recognised as a distinct cohort within national education policy frameworks.
Formal recognition of rural and remote students within the National Education Strategy would acknowledge the barriers they face and support the development of policies and funding arrangements that promote equitable educational outcomes for all Australian students, regardless of where they live.
