ATN welcomes crucial student support
24 March 2020Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN) today supports the Government’s announcement that students will now be eligible for the $550 fortnightly coronavirus supplement payments.
Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN) today supports the Government’s announcement that students will now be eligible for the $550 fortnightly coronavirus supplement payments.
The Government’s fortnightly $550 supplement will be available to eligible Abstudy, Austudy and Youth Allowance claimants, in addition to the initial $750 once-off stimulus payment.
With over 230,000 full-time students in Australia currently receiving those payments, the majority of them in part-time work, the additional payment will help to ease the burden to wallets that will likely hit during these challenging times.
“Students from a range of backgrounds study at university, and it is important that we support them to get the most out of our shared investment in their education,” said Acting Executive Director Sally Way.
“These students will be an important part of our economic recovery after the crisis, but they need our support to get through this now.”
“This supports vulnerable and disadvantaged students and means they can keep up their education,” said Sally Way.
The 2017 Universities Australia Student Finances Survey found that a third of undergraduate students receive student income support. The percentage receiving student income support increases for groups with higher levels of disadvantage – including 42 per cent of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, 45 per cent of regional students and 49 per cent of Indigenous students.
Advice from Government confirms that as long as someone has applied for the payment by 13 April they will also be eligible for the $750 stimulus payment announced on 12 March, which will give them extra relief until the fortnightly $550 coronavirus supplements begin to flow.
Earlier the Government eased working restrictions on selected groups of international students to ease expected staff shortages in aged care facilities.
