Queensland families whose children are forced to travel thousands of kilometres just to access secondary education are demanding the premier steps in urgently, as the cost of living crisis deepens.
Representatives and supporters from Queensland's rural education advocacy group, the Isolated Children's Parents' Association, gathered outside Queensland parliament yesterday, calling on the Palaszczuk government to boost its Living Away From Home Allowance Scheme by $4000.
The LAFHAS, which is a Queensland government allowance that assists with the tuition fees of students who must move away from home for schooling, currently provides families with a maximum annual subsidy of $6276 per child.
However, even after the subsidy is applied, ICPA Queensland president Louise Martin said many families are often still left with an annual average tuition bill of $8000 per student, which does not include the boarding component.
"We live in a country where education is supposedly free and without more help with tuition fees, our rural and remote families will be left further out of pocket," Ms Martin said.
"For most of them, the only option for face-to-face secondary schooling is to live away from home.
"Therefore, boarding school is not an extravagance for these children; it is a necessity, and it comes at a great financial and emotional cost."
Ms Martin said the $4000 increase to the allowance will ensure equitable access for rural and remote secondary students, particularly since there are twelve local government areas of Queensland that do not have secondary schools.
She also noted that a failure to increase the LAFHAS would be "detrimental" to rural and remote communities, believing it would force more families to move away in the wake of the current cost of living crisis.
"The gap between the tuition fees and the allowance continues to increase," Ms Martin said.
"The soaring cost of living is straining families' budgets, and access to affordable education is essential.
"There has not been a significant raise in the LAFHAS since 2015, so ICPA Queensland is advocating for a raise to support and retain the families who reside in rural and remote areas, and also attract professionals and workers to these areas."
Queensland ICPA patron Patricia Mitchell who has been involved with the organisation since its inception, said boarding schools provide essential social and communication skills for isolated children living in remote areas.
"It is so disappointing to think that here we are having to keep putting this argument of how crucial it is that children, who do not have daily access to schooling in their home area, cannot get the government's support when education is supposedly free throughout the country," she said.
"As I have spoken about over the many years, education is more than just schooling.
"The children in isolated areas need this more than even others because they do not have daily contact with other children, and so boarding schools provide this wonderful service."
Mother of two Amanda Walker, who owns a cattle station with her husband between Tambo and Augathella, said it was "inevitable" that her boys, Darcy and Patty, would end up in boarding school after completing their distance education.
However, Mrs Walker said it takes both an emotional and financial toll on the family, particularly since their school is an 11-hour drive from the property.
"For us to educate two children from Year 7 to Year 12 there will not be much change out of half a million dollars, and that doesn't take into account visits to see them and things like that," Mrs Walker said, noting that their closest secondary school is 123km away.
"For a lot of families that are really struggling this comes with a really high toll emotionally when you can't get down to see your children.
"Everyone is entitled to a good education and all sorts of opportunities that are out there for bush kids."
