“That ICPA (WA) lobby the Department of Transport to review their policy regarding the Student Travel Subsidy Scheme (STSS) - Road Travel Subsidy to more appropriately fit rural travel situations and therefore change their criteria to enable our children to receive the education that is comparable to that of our metropolitan students.”
Families who have previously qualified for the Road Travel Subsidy prior to 2019 are now having their claims rejected. This is due to a Trans WA bus service running through their town, or within a 56km radius. The scheduled timetables are often on the days not suitable to the school timetables.
For Example: The TransWA bus travels from Perth to Esperance coming through Hyden on a Tuesday. The return bus is on a Thursday from Esperance. Meaning that students would accrue up to and including anywhere from 8 to 16 days absent over a school term. Over a 6-year period of boarding this is a minimum of 9.6 weeks of school missed. When the bus is not available on the appropriate days, students are expected to travel to Perth and stay in hotels (at parents’ expense) with no adult supervision until their school opens. This could mean 5 nights in a hotel alone. Many of these students are minors, unaccompanied by an adult and particularly pertinent as some children are still 11 years of age.
