Marilyn Harrington
Only two of the identifiable Indigenous education measures in the 2013–14 Budget involve additional funding. The two other budget measures involve a re-announcement of funding and a continuation of funding for existing Indigenous school education programs that will also involve an administrative change.
Indigenous education scholarships
The additional funding is for two Indigenous education scholarship programs. The Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF) will receive an additional $10.0 million for this year only and the Indigenous Youth Leadership Program (IYLP) will receive an additional $11.9 million over four years.[1]
The AIEF is not a government program. It is a non-profit organisation that has had significant success with its boarding school and residential college scholarships but has not been able to keep up with demand.[2] The additional funding will bring the Government’s total contribution to the AIEF to $32 million since 2008. [3] The IYLP was started as a pilot program in 2006 and currently supports young Indigenous people from remote areas aged 16 to 24 years.[4] The additional funding will now provide scholarships to younger students entering Years 7, 8 and 11 in 2013 and 2014. [5]
Achieving Results Through Indigenous Education
The additional funding for the Achieving Results Through Indigenous Education (ARTIE) program was announced in December.[6] The appropriation for this funding is a provision of the Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Amendment Bill 2013 (the current Bill) which is currently before the Parliament.[7]
Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Act 2000
Most of the targeted Indigenous education programs are funded by the Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Act 2000 (IETA). The Budget has announced that $800 million over six years will be provided for a number of the IETA school education programs. From 1 June 2014, however, these programs will be moved from the IETA to annual appropriations.[8] The rationale for the move is to provide ‘greater transparency’ of funding.[9] The IETA programs are collectively designated as non-ABSTUDY payments and their funding is not disaggregated in the budget papers. However, the move to annual appropriations may provide less certainty of funding from year to year.
This budget measure creates an overlap with the current Bill.[10] The Bill’s provisions include additional funding for the first six months of 2014 for some of the programs that will move to annual appropriations. These programs include the IYLP and the ARTIE which is part of the Sporting Chance Program.[11] This raises the question whether the relevant provisions in the current Bill will be amended before it is passed or whether an amendment that will make the adjustment for all the affected IETA programs will be made in a separate Bill.
The proposed Indigenous education expenditure that is not separately identified in the Budget, except in general terms, is the loading for Indigenous school students that will apply under the Government’s National Plan for School Improvement (NPSI). [12] The NPSI is discussed in more detail in the Budget Review article on school education.
[5]. Australian Government, Budget measures: budget paper no. 2: 2013–14, op. cit.
[8]. Australian Government, Budget measures: budget paper no. 2: 2013–14, op. cit., p. 131.
[10]. M Harrington, op. cit., p. 7.
[11]. Australian Government, Budget measures: budget paper no. 2: 2013–14, op. cit., p. 131.
For copyright reasons some linked items are only available to members of Parliament.
© Commonwealth of Australia
In essence, you are free to copy and communicate this work in its current form for all non-commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the work to the author and abide by the other licence terms. The work cannot be adapted or modified in any way. Content from this publication should be attributed in the following way: Author(s), Title of publication, Series Name and No, Publisher, Date.
To the extent that copyright subsists in third party quotes it remains with the original owner and permission may be required to reuse the material.
Inquiries regarding the licence and any use of the publication are welcome to webmanager@aph.gov.au.
This work has been prepared to support the work of the Australian Parliament using information available at the time of production. The views expressed do not reflect an official position of the Parliamentary Library, nor do they constitute professional legal opinion.
Feedback is welcome and may be provided to: web.library@aph.gov.au. Any concerns or complaints should be directed to the Parliamentary Librarian. Parliamentary Library staff are available to discuss the contents of publications with Senators and Members and their staff. To access this service, clients may contact the author or the Library‘s Central Entry Point for referral.