“That ICPA Qld lobbies the Department of Education (DoE) to review and increase the Living Away from Home Allowances Scheme (LAFHAS) as a matter of priority, ensuring it is indexed and aligned with the true and ongoing cost of living.”
The LAFHAS plays a critical role in supporting rural and remote families who must send their children away to access secondary education. For many families, this is not a choice but a necessity due to distance, limited local schooling options and workforce realities in regional Australia.
However, the current rate of LAFHAS no longer reflects the true cost of living. In recent years, families have experienced significant increases across all essential expenses associated with educating a child away from home.
Food and daily living expenses have escalated sharply, with grocery costs and basic necessities continuing to rise well above previous benchmarks. Families are also responsible for uniforms, technology, textbooks, and extracurricular participation, all of which add to the financial burden.
Travel remains a significant and unavoidable expense for geographically isolated families. Airfares, fuel, and vehicle maintenance costs have all increased, making it more expensive for students to travel between home and school during term breaks, as well as for families to attend important school events.
These cumulative costs mean that the gap between the LAFHAS payment and the actual cost of supporting a child living away from home is widening each year. Without regular review and indexation, the allowance is failing to keep pace with real-world expenses.
This financial pressure is compounded by the fact that many rural and remote families face additional challenges such as variable seasonal income, drought, flood, and market fluctuations. As a result, the burden of accessing education is disproportionately higher for these families compared to their metropolitan counterparts.
An increase to LAFHAS, aligned with current cost-of-living realities and supported by ongoing indexation, is essential to ensure that rural and remote students are not disadvantaged simply because of where they live.
