Ms. Beard asks about eligibility for the WA student assistance payment for carers and whether student attendance affects eligibility. The Minister clarifies eligibility criteria based on carer status and school registration, not attendance.

AnsweredQoN 207Legislative Assembly
Asked
21 March 2024
Portfolio
Education

QuestionView source ↗

STUDENT ASSISTANCE PAYMENT
207. Ms M. BEARD to the Minister for Education:
I refer to the WA student assistance
payment and the Premier's comments on 19 March that during term 2
parents will receive direct payments of $250 for secondary students and $150
for primary school and kindergarten students.
(1) Will foster carers, family carers, special guardian
carers and grandparent carers receiving the $500 cost- of-living
co-payment for foster carers also be eligible for the student assistance
payment?
(2) Will the
student assistance payment be affected by a student's school
attendance, factoring in high truancy rates in regional Western Australia?

AnswerView source ↗

(1)–(2) If
they are a registered or primary carer, they will receive the WA student
assistance payment. As long as they have attendance registration at the school,
they are eligible students, registered. It is not based on how many days they
attend, but obviously if they are excluded and are not registered as attending
a school in Western Australia, either public or private, they will not pass the
eligibility requirements. To pass the eligibility requirements, they have to be
attending a school in Western Australia. With regard to who can apply, it is
primary carers or, as the member said, a foster carer, or a grandparent, if the
grandparent is a primary carer.
The SPEAKER :
That concludes question time.

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