Students Back Allowances Bill

Students Back Allowances Bill

The New Zealand University Students’ Association (NZUSA) expressed its support today for a Private Members Bill moved by the Green Party that will extend eligibility to student allowances to around 16,000 more students...

The Bill introduced today seeks to halt the erosion of access to student allowances by adjusting the parental income thresholds used to means test for allowances. The bill includes an automatic annual increase based on CPI as well as a catch up for the last decade. The parental income thresholds have not been inflation adjusted since they were introduced in 1991 which1991, which has meant access to allowances decreased from 44% of students in 1992 to 33% in 2001.

“Students will be thrilled that increased access to allowances is on the parliamentary agenda at last... We will be expecting Labour, the Progressive Coalition, United Future New Zealand and New Zealand First to all support thissupport this bill, based on their election policies to increase access to allowances, “said NZUSA Co-President Andrew Campbell.

“Students have been campaigning for the last 10 years foryears for more student allowances. This is our top priority and we will be working with the Greens to ensure that this bill passes,” said Campbell.

“With student debt in excess of $5 billion we need to get serious about reducing the cost of tertiary study. If more students receive allowances, less students will be forced to borrow to pay rent and buy food,” said Campbell.

“NZUSA supports the Greens Bill and will be campaigning nationwide to ensure it’sits success,” said Campbell.

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