FAMILIES in isolated parts of WA are the latest to be impacted by the Royalties for Regions (RfR) restructure after the State government announced a 30 per cent reduction to the Boarding Away from Home Allowance (BAHA) over the next four years.
The Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association of WA (ICPA) was last week notified by Education Minister Sue Ellery that as of 2018, BAHA funding would reduce by approximately $160 each year until 2021, due to RfR funding ceasing.
Close to 1860 students will receive the BAHA this year and at present, eligible parents receive a payment of $2105 for each student that boards a full year.
The State government has confirmed the allowance will gradually be reduced to $1477 by 2021, meaning families will need to pay an extra $628 per child per year for boarding school fees after that time.
Ms Ellery said everyone was required to “share the burden” as the government worked to address the State’s dire financial circumstances.
“In tough financial times and as a result of the financial mess left by the previous Liberal National government, we have had to look at every single program applied across every agency in Western Australia,” Ms Ellery said.
“We have made the decision to reduce the top up Royalties for Regions funding of approximately $160 a year.
“To put this in some context: private school boarding fees cost $20,000 to $24,000 per year and government residential colleges cost $13,000.”
Ms Ellery said the State government was committed to enhancing education in rural and remote parts of the State, and had invested in appointing 10 Independent Learning Co-ordinators to regional schools to assist students undertaking courses through the School of Isolated and Distance Education.
ICPA State president Tash Johns lives near Marble Bar, and has three children attending boarding school in Perth this year.
She said funding cuts would make it more difficult for parents already facing increased boarding school fees to educate their children.
“It will have huge implications, it will determine if some parents can send their kids to boarding school or not,” Ms Johns said.
“People may think a reduction of $650 isn’t much but there’s families that can’t afford it, they’ve either got to separate the family and have one parent move to Perth or they’ve got to move to regional centres, it’s detrimental to the whole family.
“The government says that it wants people to live in the bush, and it wants to develop these regions but they’re taking away all of these facilities and allowances and opportunities for these families, people won’t come to these places if they can’t provide a decent education for their kids.”
Agriculture lobby group WAFarmers has hit out at the decision to cut the subsidy, and has joined IPCA in calling for its reinstatement.
WAFarmers president Tony York said reducing the subsidy was anti-regional and would create unsustainable regional communities.
“The Royalties for Regions Boarding Away from Home Allowance subsidy was a form of financial relief for families, many of which have no choice but to have their children board during their years of secondary education,” Mr York said.
“Some communities do not have a school within hundreds of kilometres from their home so the BAHA subsidy is critically important to the bottom line of the budget for many households.”
He said the State government had a responsibility to develop regional communities so that agriculture had a sustainable future.
The Nationals WA has also weighed in, describing the cuts to RfR funding as “heartless”.
The Nationals WA education spokesperson Peter Rundle said the decision reflected the State government’s lack of commitment to regional WA.
“Clearly this government places greater importance on building Perth rail projects and multi-storey car parks at Mandurah Train Station than ensuring our regional kids get a quality education,” he said.
