Abstudy cuts undermine self-determination
By Daniel Kelly
Cuts to Abstudy in the federal budget demonstrate how the rhetoric of "equal treatment" can be used to undermine the ability of disadvantaged groups to overcome the social inequality they are subject to.
Abstudy is a student assistance program available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. It is administered by the federal Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs. The stated aim is to address the educational disadvantages of indigenous Australians. The impact of the changes will be severe, and in precisely the opposite direction.
Abstudy offers forms of assistance that are not available under Austudy (the student assistance scheme available to all students). Government publicity regarding the cuts emphasises that Abstudy benefits are still more generous than Austudy. This is an attempt to justify the cuts — their unstated context being the current Howard-Hanson racist offensive — and prepare the ground for even more cuts in the near future. (Abstudy will be subject to a further review this year!)
The government publicity fails to address the educational disadvantage facing Aboriginal students (only 29% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students complete year 12, compared to the national average of 70%). More fundamentally, it ignores the real life cultural, social and economic situations that Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders find themselves in, and the way Abstudy benefits had been designed to take these situations into account.
Perhaps the most significant and negative impact of the cuts will be on what are known as "away from base" studies. Away from base studies involve students travelling to the educational institution, or to field placements for study or practical blocks, usually for around two weeks. Courses designed to meet the needs of indigenous students from remote communities often require many such study blocks each year.
In the words of Batchelor College's student guide booklet: "To give students the chance to keep strong links with their communities and culture, most courses are taught in what is called 'mixed mode'. This means that students do not have to leave their home communities for months or years at a time for study. Instead they can study some parts of each course in their communities."
This "mixed mode" involves a blend of intensive on-campus or regional residential workshops, community-based studies and research, supervised work experience and field studies.
The budget changes, effective from January 1, 1998, mean that courses composed "wholly or substantially" of away from base components will not be approved for Abstudy assistance! Away from base assistance will be limited to a maximum of four weeks and two return trips a year for each approved course.
These cuts, in the words of NUS national welfare officer Zane Whitehorn, will severely affect a number of universities and "threaten the existence of institutions like Batchelor College".
This is not an overstatement. What may not be generally appreciated is the role of institutions delivering away from base programs, and the important role of Bachelor College in particular.
Batchelor College, 100 kilometres south of Darwin, has 1900 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, more indigenous higher education students than any other tertiary education institution in Australia.
Eighty-five per cent of Batchelor students are from remote parts of Australia. The majority are of mature age, and about 70% are women. Many have significant traditional cultural and leadership responsibilities in their communities.
In the words of a Batchelor College information brochure, the college "seeks to help indigenous Australians achieve their desire for self-determination and self-management, providing courses aimed at enhancing community development and positively encouraging students to involve themselves in the work of cultural survival, maintenance, renewal and transformation".
Its offerings include culturally appropriate teacher education programs designed to prepare teachers for work in indigenous Australian communities, from primary to adult education, and education of the hearing impaired.
Courses in primary health care contribute significantly to the raising of health standards in remote communities, where sophisticated urban facilities and services are not normally available. Specialised courses are also offered in the fields of environmental health as well as in studies involving alcohol and other substance abuse.
Other courses cover natural and cultural resource management, community management skills, administrative skills, technical skills for the maintenance of community assets and facilities, the role of women in community development, and broadcasting and journalism.
Through its mixed-mode approach, Batchelor students spend most of their learning time in their communities, making their studies directly relevant to their special needs and their employment opportunities.
It is generally an entry requirement for Batchelor College that students have the support of their community or an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander organisation and have the chance within their community or organisation to undertake practical work experience.
It is only education programs like these, which are based on a recognition of the needs and circumstances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their communities, that can hope to address educational disadvantage and community disempowerment.
Programs and resources beyond the usual are necessary to address the effects of generations of injustice and discrimination beyond the usual.
The cuts to Abstudy constitute a direct attack on all those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and educators who are working towards not only education but also self-determination. While Pauline Hanson attacks indigenous Australians for failing to help themselves, the Howard government is busy using the racist climate that has been generated to take away the resources that make this self-help possible.
The rhetoric of "equal treatment" is a smokescreen for a policy of continued injustice, with scapegoating thrown in for good measure.