HUNDREDS of south-west students will still miss out on youth allowance support, despite politicians on both sides claiming victory for finally agreeing on a deal to try and get the legislation through the Senate.
Students across many areas in the south-west including Warrnambool, Ararat, Camperdown, Hamilton and Mortlake will not qualify for youth allowance under the new plan but students in Portland and Timboon may meet the criteria after the Federal Government agreed to relax the eligibility test.
It's just one of a number of changes the Federal Government agreed to in an effort to get the legislation passed this week.
While it's good news for students who took a gap year in 2009 who will still qualify for youth allowance and those waiting for payment of relocation scholarships this year, the changes are a blow for others who no longer meet the new criteria to qualify for youth allowance because of where they live.
Under the new agreement, only students who leave home to study, whose parents earn less than $150,000 a year and who live in "very remote", "remote" or "outer regional" areas as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics will be eligible to qualify for independence by working 15 hours a week in two years or earning $19,532 over an 18-month period.
This is a return to the criteria many south-west students used to qualify for youth allowance by taking a gap year before moving to Melbourne and other regional centres for university.
But because Warrnambool and many towns in the south-west are defined as "inner regional" students will not be eligible for the support payment. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Portland and Timboon are defined as "outer regional" so students there may be eligible under the new system.
South West Local Learning and Employment Network (SWLLEN) chief executive officer Toni Jenkins said this deal was further evidence of young people being disadvantaged because of where they live. "We need to keep pressure on the Government to recognise what we know is true," she said.
"We have to keep saying there is a two-tiered system ? what's provided for metro kids is different for rural and regional kids."
Ms Jenkins urged parents and students to contact their local MP and continue to keep the Government under pressure.
One south-west student who has been left shaking her head at the changes is 18-year-old Hannah McDonald who took her fight for students' rights all the way to Canberra last year to meet with the Deputy Prime Minister.
Hannah, who decided to take 2010 as a gap year and qualify for Youth Allowance under the first round of proposed changes, which have now been scrapped, said she was disappointed that she would probably miss out on financial support.
"To some extent it's been recognised remote and rural areas have difficulty with access but regional areas have not been acknowledged," she said. "Regional areas are stuck in the middle - we're still three hours away from Melbourne.
"It looks like I won't qualify for independence next year, I'll be living and studying in Ballarat but will be dependant on my parents still."
Hannah said she planned to move to Ballarat to study a double degree in paramedicine and medicine. She will have to take on part-time work to support herself.
A government spokesman said the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations would soon have an interactive map at www.deewr.gov.au/youthallowance which will enable students to enter the name of their town to see which geographical classification it falls into.
"We need equitable access to education and services for our young people."
"Protests against the changes have demonstrated Youth Allowance is just a symptom of something far greater and that is regional disadvantage," she said.
"I would urge parents to continue to protest and question why young people in rural and regional Victoria are so disadvantaged when it comes to education and services."
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