A001ICPA Federal Council
That the minutes from the 2024 Federal Conference held in Sydney on the 24th & 25th July be accepted.
A01Walgett Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the relevant federal government departments to continue and expand the Commonwealth Regional Scholarship Program pilot.
A02South Australia State Council
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the relevant government departments to reestablish the Commonwealth Regional Scholarship Program (CRSP).
A03Queensland State Council
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Government and all relevant departments for the permanent establishment of a Rural Hardship Education Fund (RHEF), to support rural and remote families eligible for the Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) allowance to meet educational costs during times of unforeseen and unprecedented natural disasters.
A04Tambo Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and relevant ministers to ensure that the Commonwealth’s recurrent school funding model includes provisions for boarding schools to receive a Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) exemption on accommodation provided to essential boarding staff, where the school accommodates students from remote and very remote areas as defined by the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA) score.
A05ICPA Federal Council
That ICPA(Aust) advocate that the Australian Boarding Schools Association (ABSA) continue discussions with the Federal Government to lobby for a Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) exemption for schools/boarding facilities providing on site living facilities for essential supervising staff who must live on site.
A06Louth Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the relevant ministers to support the removal of the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) for businesses who would like to provide financial assistance to employees residing in geographically isolated areas, to enable their children to attend boarding school.
A07South Australia State Council
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Government to significantly increase the Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Basic Boarding Allowance so that it more accurately reflects the real and rising cost of boarding school education for geographically isolated students.
A08South Australia State Council
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to Services Australia and the Federal Government for a review of the eligibility criteria for the Additional Boarding Allowance under the Geographically Isolated (GI) category of the Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) scheme, so that entitlement is determined solely on the basis of actual boarding costs incurred as a family, without being subject to parental income testing.
A09Broken Hill Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate for changes within the Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) criteria to address the inequity of assistance provided to Geographically Isolated students.
A10Kindon Branch (QLD)
That ICPA Australia advocate to the Federal government and all stakeholders to address the continuing decline of mobile coverage in rural areas which affects small rural schools and rural school bus services.
A11Katherine Branch (NT)
That ICPA (Aust) continues to advocate to the Minister for Communications to ensure all rural and remote students have adequate internet access regarding reliability, speed, quality, and cost of the service.
A12Katherine Branch (NT)
That ICPA (Aust) continues to advocate to the Minister of Communication to ensure Telstra meets their Universal Service Guarantee of providing quality, efficient, and reliable voice services to rural and remote premises to access education including fixed address pastoral leases, remote communities, and remote roadhouses.
A13Balranald Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Minister for Education to ensure that all State and Territories have
equitable dates for when National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) testing is
conducted throughout Australia.
A14Northern Territory State Council
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Government to add an additional loading category to the School Resourcing Standard for Geographic Isolated students.
A15South Australia State Council
That ICPA (AUST) advocate to the Commonwealth Government to formally recognise geographically isolated students as a priority equity cohort by introducing a fifth student-based loading, a Geographically Isolated Student Loading, within the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS).
A16Northern Territory State Council
That ICPA (Aust) support the formation of a Distance Education Supervision subsidy (name is not important) to assist geographically isolated families whose only choice for their children is Distance Education.
A17Alice Springs Branch (NT)
That ICPA (Aust) continue to advocate to the Minister for Social Services and the Minister for Education to establish a Distance Education Teaching Allowance, in recognition of the essential role that the home tutor plays in educating rural and remote students via distance education.
A18Katherine Branch (NT)
That ICPA (Aust) continue to advocate to the Federal Government to establish an allowance / subsidy for families in recognition of the cost families bear in providing the compulsory home tutor when educating rural and remote students via distance education.
A19New South Wales State Council
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Minister for Social Services to provide funding for a Distance Education Supervisors Subsidy (DESS) to be paid per term to eligible geographically isolated families for safely and actively supervising students in a home classroom.
A20Katherine Branch (NT)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and all other relevant government agencies to recognise and implement a wage system for Home Tutors under the Pastoral Award.
A21Meekatharra Air Branch
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Government to introduce immediately per child, a minimum home tutor allowance equivalent to the cost for the State Departments of Education to educate a child in the state systems.
A22Katherine Branch (NT)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Minister for Social Services for an increase to the Assistance for Isolated Children Distance Education Allowance to reflect and assist with the true cost of educating geographically isolated children where distance education is the only choice.
A23Monaro Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Minister for Education and the Department of Education to further enable Regional University Study Hubs (RUSH’s) to provide support services with appropriate safeguards to local secondary students who are learning by distance.
A24Alice Springs Branch (NT)
That ICPA (Aust) expand the publicity campaign for RREd Day to include key messaging, increase awareness, and reach a wider audience whilst boosting the visibility of being a home tutor in rural and remote areas.
A25Bourke Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the relevant Federal Ministers for funding to be sought to address Early Childhood Teacher pay parity to assist with access to early childhood education in rural and remote communities.
A26Louth Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the relevant Federal Ministers to amend the lack of salary parity between four year trained early childhood teachers and four year trained primary and high school teachers in rural and remote areas.
A27Tambo Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Government to develop and implement targeted incentives to attract and retain early childhood educators in rural and remote areas, to ensure the sustainability and reliability of early childhood and care services in these regions.
A28Katherine Branch (NT)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Minister for Social Services to urgently commit to increasing the In-Home Care (IHC) Child Care Subsidy (CCS) Hourly Rate Cap, to ensure that families with no alternative child care options are not forced to shoulder inequitable financial burdens.
A29Cunnamulla Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) continues to advocate to the Minister for Early Childhood Education to act on recommendations from the 2023 In Home Care (IHC) review, The Parenthood’s Choiceless report, and the ACCC 2023 Childcare Inquiry, and develop a tailored In Home Care (IHC) system for geographically isolated families that effectively delivers fit for purpose, financially sustainable, quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) to rural and remote families.
A30Katherine Branch (NT)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Minister for Education amend the In-Home Care rules for families in remote areas to allow:
1. An educator to care for children from more than one family at the same time.
2. An educator to care for their own child whilst caring for children from another family(ies) under In Home Care.
A31Marree Air Branch (SA)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Minister for Social Services and the Minister for Early Childhood and the relevant departments for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services, to consider the unique needs of rural and remote families when it comes to the eligibility criteria for funding and benefits such as the Child Care Subsidy (CCS).
A32Balranald Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Education for continued funding and ongoing commitment into the early childhood sector in rural and remote Australia.
A33Bourke Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to relevant Ministers for sufficient funding from streams such as the Community Childcare Fund (CCCF) Sustainability stream (or any other funding streams that may be similar), be made available for services in remote and very remote locations to meet their operational costs which are unable to be met through the Childcare Subsidy (CCS)/Parent Fee model.
A34New South Wales State Council
That ICPA (Aust) advocate for legislative change to section 5(1) of the Children (Education and Care Services) National Law to enable the provision of Early Childhood Preschool Programs on rural and remote school sites, available to both three- and four-year-olds, not governed by the school itself.
A35Cunnamulla Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Minister for Early Childhood Education and relevant early childhood organisations to deliver regular and reliable appropriate early childhood programs for highly vulnerable and remote locations across Australia.
A36Alice Springs Branch (NT)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the relevant Minister to establish funding to deliver mobile early learning programs to geographically isolated children, aged 0-5 year, who are currently without access to any such service because of where they live.
A37Bourke Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to relevant Ministers for funding to support the infrastructure needs of Community Based early childhood education providers to deliver Childcare and Preschool services in remote towns.
A38Bourke Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the relevant Ministers for universal access to early childhood education and care in Rural and Remote Australia.
A39North West Branch (SA)
That ICPA (Aust) continues to advocate for the extension of the Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Distance Education Allowance to include geographically isolated children enrolled in eligible pre-compulsory early childhood programs.
A40Katherine Branch (NT)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Government for the Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) Distance Education Allowance to be extended to include all Geographically isolated pre-school students enrolled in a distance education programme.
A41Marla Oodnadatta Branch (SA)
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.
A42Marla Oodnadatta Branch (SA)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the relevant ministers for the additional loadings for the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate (PACER) rates for students traveling to Canberra to be permanently implemented.
A43Northern Territory State Council
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Government to work with all Australian airlines to offer capped or discount fares to families of Geographically Isolated students for travel to/from boarding school.
A44South Australia State Council
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the relevant bodies to provide a subsidy for rural and remote boarding and tertiary students accessing flights in areas of Australia where no student fare is available.
A45South Australia State Council
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Government to work with regional airlines, including Regional Express (REX), to establish a national fixed-fare scheme for students required to travel to and from rural and remote areas for education purposes, similar to Queensland’s 'Bush to Boarding' initiative.
A46Port Augusta Branch (SA)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to and work collaboratively with airlines servicing remote and regional
areas to develop and implement a dedicated student airfare to support equitable access to education
for geographically isolated students.
A47Broken Hill Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate for QANTAS, REX and other regional airlines to offer reduced, capped priced fares on available seats to rural and remote secondary, tertiary and TAFE students travelling between their place of education or training and their home at any time on any flight.
A48Alice Springs Branch (NT)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the relevant bodies for a ‘Capped Student Fare’ for rural and remote students attending educational institutions within Australia who need to travel between their home residence and the educational establishment they attend.
A49North West Branch (SA)
That ICPA (Aust) continues to work with commercial airlines servicing regional and remote areas across Australia to introduce equitable, capped student fares or establish discount codes for rural and remote school-aged children and tertiary students required to travel for educational purposes.
A50Julia Creek Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) to allow National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants from rural and remote areas, who are required to attend boarding schools for their secondary education, to utilise their NDIS funding for the employment of individual support workers within boarding facilities.
A51South Australia State Council
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Government, through the Ministers for Education and Health, to make targeted funding available for the provision of speech pathologists in rural and remote schools, particularly where students are enrolled through distance education.
A52Alice Springs Branch (NT)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Minister for Health and other relevant Ministers and agencies to ensure that federally funded health clinics and health physicians across Australia are easily accessible to all Australians, so all geographically isolated children can receive a diagnosis and ongoing treatment of medical issues that impede their ability to learn and thrive.
A53Hughenden Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) work with the Australian Boarding Schools Association (ABSA), to help develop an information pack, which will build a knowledge base to assist parents of a child with specific education needs with the decision making process during the transition to boarding school.
A54. Bourke Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) work with the various bodies to improve isolated children’s access to specialist Paediatrician services, including the Royal Australian College of Physicians to look at the barriers to accessibility of these specialists.
A55Bourke Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the relevant Ministers for improved access and utilisation of Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) funding, currently managed through the NDIS scheme.
A56Tambo Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Minister for Social Services to remedy the Youth Allowance application process as the current one-time pass code is not user friendly, especially in poor internet areas.
A57Louth Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate for the Minister for Social Services to increase Centrelink rent assistance payments to assist with’ or ‘to reflect the rising costs of rent for geographically isolated students who have to live away from home to access a tertiary education.
A58Rankins Springs Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Minister for Education and the Federal Treasurer to change the timing of debt indexation for study and training support loans.
A59Balranald Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to Services Australia to streamline the application process for geographically isolated Tertiary Access Payment (TAP) applicants by having dedicated call centre staff similar to that of the Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC).
A60Julia Creek Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate the relevant government departments, ministers, and the tertiary sector to extend the Commonwealth Prac payments to include those studying medicine, veterinary and allied health degrees who undertake mandatory practicum placements in/from rural and remote areas.
A61Kindon Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) lobby residential colleges to prioritise rural and remote tertiary students who seek on campus accommodation to pursue their tertiary education.
A62Blackall Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Department of Education (FDoE), Department Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR)and other relevant Departments to recognise that the experience gained by a Home Tutor who delivers the curriculum (which is an essential requirement for the Department) as Recognition of prior learning (RLP)L evidence and goes toward the Home Tutor’s qualifications and skill to be a qualified teacher’s aide/teacher.
A63Port Augusta Branch (SA)
The ICPA (Aust) advocate for an Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) allowance to support rural and remote university students studying from home in establishing a dedicated study space equipped with the necessary classroom-style resources.
A64Port Augusta Branch (SA)
ICPA (Aust) advocate for the Federal Government to establish a rural and remote rent assistance program for university students that is independent of parental income and supports them while they study full-time.
A65Tasmania Branch
ICPA (Aust) advocate for the Federal Government to provide a placement and travel allowance to support rural and remote students attending mandatory university placements and/or residential schools that is not contingent on the receipt of other commonwealth student payments.
A66Winton Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Department of Education (DoE) to ensure time spent working under the Permission to Teach program or equivalent programs, counts towards the time required to access a reduction of the Higher Education Loan Program, (HELP) in very remote areas.
A67Bourke Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Government to change the eligibility criteria for Independent Youth Allowance, so that those rural and remote students who choose to save or invest their earnings during the working period prior to attending University are not disadvantaged by the Liquid Assets criteria.
A68Bourke Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) seek financial support for regional and rural tertiary students and apprentices who have to undertake placements to complete their qualification.
A69Richmond Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) be thanked for its long time advocacy for an increase to the commonwealth Living Away from Home Allowance (LAFHA), which has been announced recently by the Prime Minister.
A70Balranald Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Minister for Education to extend the Tertiary Access Payment (TAP)to include rural and remote students who must live away from home to complete a Trade Apprenticeship.
A71Tambo Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Minister for Health and relevant government bodies to review and amend the current restriction of a maximum of two duplicate Medicare cards per family, to better accommodate families with multiple children living away from home for the purposes of education.
AGM 01ICPA Federal Council
That the Minutes of the 2024 AGM be accepted.
AGM 02ICPA Federal Council
That the Treasurers Report be received and Audited Financial Statement for the Financial year 1st June 2024 – 31st May 2025 be adopted
AGM 03ICPA Federal Council
That the Federal membership fee be set at $25 per member family for the 2026 membership year.
AGM 04ICPA Federal Council
That Corporate Membership be set at $300 per organisation for the 2026 membership year.
AGM 05ICPA Federal Council
That School Corporate Membership be set at $300 per school or educational institution for the 2026 membership year.
AGM 06ICPA Federal Council
That Queensland Audit Services be appointed as auditor for the 2025 – 2026 financial year.
AGM 07ICPA Queensland State Council
That ICPA Qld State Council hosts 2026 ICPA (Aust) Federal Conference, on behalf of ICPA (Aust) on 29 and 30 July 2026 on the Gold Coast.
AGM 08ICPA Tasmania Branch
That the Tasmania Branch of The Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association host the 2027 Federal Conference in Tasmania.
F01Katherine Branch (NT)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) and all other relevant government agencies to recognise and implement a wage system for Home Tutors under suitable awards that reflects living and working in a remote and rural location regardless of industry.
F02ICPA Federal Council
That ICPA (Aust) Federal Council adopt the term "Remuneration for the Isolated Classroom Supervisor" (RICS) when advocating for recognition of the home tutors/supervisors within the Distance Education Classroom.
S01Far North Queensland Branch (QLD)
That ICPA Australia lobbies Services Australia to assess the payment times for the AIC applications for Year 12 students, to coincide with the beginning of Term Four so parents are able to budget for the balance owing at the completion of the senior school year.
S02Mt Isa Branch of the Air (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) lobby the Minister for Social Services and Services Australia to reduce the claim processing times for ABSTUDY.
S03ICPA Federal Council
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to all levels of government for increased and sustainable funding to ensure the viability and accessibility of boarding facilities for students from rural and remote areas.
S04Mt Isa Branch of the Air (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) thank the Federal Government and previous Minister for Communications (the Hon Michelle Rowland), nbn and the Low Income and Digital Inclusion Forum (LIDIF) for the nbn School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI) that benefitted many rural and remote students.
S05Mt Isa Branch of the Air (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Federal Government that the current Regional, Rural and Remote student nbn School Student Broadband Initiative recipients continue to benefit from this initiative beyond the end of June 2028 to ensure that these students, continue to receive free internet for the entirety of their educational journey.
S06Mt Isa Branch of the Air (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate the Federal Government for an expansion of the NBN School Student Broadband Initiative (SSBI) for Regional, Rural and Remote students.
S07ICPA Federal Council
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Minister for Education and the Commonwealth Department of Education for future Preschool Reform Agreements and National Partnership Agreements to include funding for, and the condition to provide an access payment to enhance funding equity for geographically isolated (GI) distance education preschool students.
S08ICPA Federal Council
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Minister for Education and the Commonwealth Department of Education for a separate Geographically Isolated In Home Care (IHC) Early Education Service Delivery Price Project to accurately represent the actual cost of delivering IHC in geographically isolated homes.
S09Goldfields Eyre Branch (WA)
That ICPA (Aust) lobbies the federal government for funding to be sought to further encourage and incentivise experienced teachers to take up contract and long term rural, regional and remote positions.
S10New South Wales State Council
That ICPA (Aust) advocate against the changes to travel allowances for allied health providers under the 2025–26 NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits, as these cuts pose a significant risk to the delivery of essential support services for students with disabilities in rural, regional, and remote communities.
S11Goldfields Eyre Branch (WA)
That ICPA (Aust) requests that the Federal Government through Services Australia recognises the adversity geographically isolated students face when living away from the family home to access a tertiary education, by reviewing and simplifying criteria for assistance.
S12St George Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) lobbies universities to offer secondary teaching students Agricultural subjects as a pathway.
S13Nyngan Branch (NSW)
That ICPA (Aust) advocates to the Federal Agricultural Minister, Dept of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry and the Commonwealth Government to financially support the National Farmers Federation AgCareerStart program, which helps teachers and students who are considering careers in Food and Fibre production in Australia.
S14Tambo Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) advocates to the Commonwealth Minister of Education, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership(AITSL) and any other relevant stakeholders to ensure that Universities promote teaching students to study elective subjects to gain an Agricultural Teacher specialisation.
S15Mt Isa Branch of the Air (QLD)
That ICPA Australia lobby the Minister for Education to attract more students with an agricultural degree into the High Achieving Teachers (HAT) Program.
S16Lakes District Branch (WA)
That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Department of Education to extend eligibility for the Commonwealth Prac Payment (CPP) to students undertaking a Graduate Diploma in Education.
S17Kindon Branch (QLD)
That ICPA (Aust) lobby relevant Ministers to review the Dependent Youth Allowance so that rural and remote students have a higher parental threshold.
S18Mt Isa Branch of the Air (QLD)
That ICPA Australia lobby the Minister for Education to include students from regional, remote and very remote areas and also students wishing to travel to regional and remote areas as being eligible for exceptional circumstances for the Commonwealth Prac Payment (CPP).
S19Hay Branch (NSW)
Hay Branch ICPA would like to thank ICPA Australia, the Department of Education and the relevant Ministers for the changes made to the Tertiary Access Payment (TAP).
