The Nationals Senator for Victoria Bridget McKenzie is reminding students from regional and rural communities who receive Youth Allowance or ABSTUDY that Relocation Scholarships worth more than $4,000 are now available.
Senator McKenzie said Relocation Scholarships supported eligible students who move from a regional area to a city for study.
“The Nationals are strong advocates for providing better assistance to regional and rural students who move to Melbourne or interstate to study,” Senator McKenzie said.
“Students from communities such as Bendigo, Shepparton, Wodonga, Gippsland and right across regional Victoria face costs upwards of $20,000 a year to study away from home, which causes significant financial stress for their families.
“To help with this financial burden the Government is providing Relocation Scholarships which go some way to helping students and families with this cost burden.”
Senator McKenzie said the scholarships provided $4,269 to eligible students in the first year of study, $2,135 in the second and third years, and $1,067 in subsequent years.
“This payment helps students pay significant upfront costs such as bond for rental or student accommodation, books, computers, travel, removalist fees or new furniture,” Senator McKenzie said.
Senator McKenzie said the payments had already started to flow to students who were claiming Youth Allowance or ABSTUDY from last Saturday, 21 February.
She said it was important that students kept their family home address and education campus details up-to-date so they would receive the assistance automatically.
Senator McKenzie said students and families could find further information on Relocation Scholarships at www.humanservices.gov.au/students or by visiting Centrelink.
“If there are any students who believe they are eligible for this support but are yet to receive the payment then I would strongly encourage them to contact Centrelink and seek further information,” Senator McKenzie said.
Senator McKenzie, who is also the Chair of the Education and Employment Committee, said she would continue to look at ways students from regional communities could be better supported when studying away from home.