INITIATIVES IN THE 2003-04 BUDGET
Higher Education
In April 2002, the Commonwealth Government launched a review of Australia's higher education sector with the release of an overview paper titled 'Higher Education at the Crossroads'. This overview paper was followed by the release of six issues papers between June and August. Over 730 submissions were received in response to these papers including some from key women's groups such as the Women's Electoral Lobby, the Australian Federation of University Women and the Regional Women's Advisory Council.
Following from the review, the Government has decided to undertake significant reform of Australia's higher education sector. The reforms are underpinned by four key principles - sustainability, quality, equity and diversity. The reforms will ensure the sector's ongoing and significant contribution to our nation's economic and social prosperity. The reforms will establish a transparent and consistent policy framework in which universities are able to capitalise on their strengths and further engage regional communities. Around 54 per cent of higher education students are women. The reforms will benefit many students, providing them with increased opportunities and greater choice through more equitable financing arrangements and a renewed emphasis on teaching and learning outcomes.
Our Universities - National Priority Funding for Additional Student Places and Courses
Through the National Review of Nursing Education and the Review of Teaching and Teacher Education, the Commonwealth Government has identified nursing and teacher education as areas of national priority. The Commonwealth will increase the amount of funding per place given to institutions for these two areas. This increased funding will be directed towards the cost of clinical practice in nursing and the teaching practicum. The Commonwealth will also provide an additional 210 nursing places in regional institutions to combat a pressing need for more nurses. This will rise to 574 places by 2007 as students progress through their courses.
Our Universities - Disadvantaged Students Improved Participation
The Government will increase funding for the Higher Education Equity Programme (HEEP) by $2.3 million per year from 2005. One of the equity groups currently identified is women in non-traditional areas, with the aim to raise the number of women who undertake study in historically male dominated courses such as engineering. All HEEP allocations will be performance based, ensuring that universities take an active role in improving the access of disadvantaged groups to higher education. A review of HEEP equity indicators is also planned to ensure that the programme remains focussed on groups experiencing significant educational disadvantage.
Health and Aged Care
Medical Indemnity Insurance Framework- rural obstetricians
The Government will increase the subsidy available to rural obstetricians from 50 per cent to 80 per cent of the difference between the cost of their premiums plus their Incurred But Not Reported (IBNR) contribution (if applicable) and the corresponding cost for gynaecologists in the same income band in the relevant State and Territory. The medical indemnity premium subsidy scheme applies from 1 January 2003.
The increase will be provided for rural obstetricians in Rural, Remote and Metropolitan Area (RRMA) classifications 3-7.
This measure will involve funding of $10.3 million over four years.
A Fairer Medicare - more practice nurses and allied health workers for urban areas of workforce shortage
The Government will provide $64.2 million over four years to introduce a general practice incentive payment for practices participating in the GP Access Scheme to employ practice nurses and allied health workers in urban areas of workforce shortage. This measure builds on the success of an earlier measure, which provided similar funding to practices in rural and regional areas. This allows the GP to concentrate on patients who specifically require a GPs services, and allows practices to achieve a greater throughput of patients with the existing number of GPs.
In part this measure redirects a small proportion of funding from the 2002-03 Budget measure More Doctors for Outer Metropolitan Areas. This has been done at the request of GP groups, who support funding other health care professionals to see patients with health care needs better met by practice nurses or physiotherapists.
Aged Care Assessment Teams
The Government will provide additional funding of $2.5 million in 2003-04 to ensure that Aged Care Assessment Teams continue to provide timely and effective assessments of frail older people in the community. These arrangements ensure that clients who may need residential care are referred to services that best meet their needs. Continued funding of this programme will be considered in the 2004-05 Budget following the Residential Care Review.
Child Support
Support for Children Through Targeted Debt Collection
The Child Support Agency will increase its focus on collecting child support payments from long-term non-compliant payers. The measure will provide parents of children who are not currently receiving support with access to their child support entitlements. Over 105,000 children are expected to benefit as an additional $130 million of child support is transferred from non-compliant payers through better-targeted collection.
Some parents have been assessed to pay child support but have been avoiding their responsibilities to their children. As a result, the non-compliant parent has accumulated a debt over time. The measure will ensure the Child Support Agency will increase the effort to discuss the debt with the payer, verify its accuracy, ascertain the payer's capacity to pay, and to negotiate an acceptable payment arrangement.
This is expected to result in a net saving for the Government of $9.6 million.
Employment
Establishment of an Employment Innovation Fund
The Employment Innovation Fund will form part of Job Network and will provide funds to support initiatives that address employment or labour market related problems in innovative ways. Funding, generally up to $100,000 will be provided per project out of a total funding pool of $4 million over four years. Funds will be used for a diverse range of projects that are proposed at the community level to address local community or specific demographic labour related issues, which may involve requests for funding for women's projects.
Immigration
Immigration Detention Onshore - Review of Long Term Strategy
The migration legislation requires that all people without legal authority to be in Australia must be detained. The Government will provide additional resourcing of $16 million, including $14.1 million, of which $1.6 million will be in capital, for alternative detention arrangements for women and children and $1.9 million for foster care arrangements. The alternative detention facility will be modelled on the residential housing facility trialed over the past eighteen months, at Woomera.