PM Transcripts

62/ 045
P. M. No. 33/ 1962
COMMOCNAL TH SCHOLARSHIP S CEME
Statement by the Prime iMinister, the Rt. n. ReG. Menzies
The Prime Minister said today that the Commonwealth
Government had completed another of its periodic reviews of the
Commonwealth Scholarship Scheme and had decided to liberalise the
provisions governing the means test and the rates of living
allowance. Many benefits under the scheme are available to
Commonwealth Scholarship holders free of means test but living
allowances paid under the scheme do take into account the income
earned by students or their families.
The alterations to be made are these
Means Test:
The marginal adjusted family income, i. e. the adjusted
family income on which maximum living allowances are
payable is to be raised from œ 750 to œ 850 per annum and
the rate of abatement of the allowances is to be œ 2 in
up to an income of œ 1,700 ( instead of œ 1,400 at
present) and œ 3 in œ 10 thereafter. ( Adjusted family
income is ascertained by taking the full income of the
scholar's parents for the financial year immediately
preceding the year in which living allowance is desired
and deducting an amount, as below, for each dependent
child other than the scholar under 16 years of age)
This alteration therefore increases the amount of
allowance payable to all income groups at present
eligible and makes eligible certain income groups at
present above the ceiling,
In assessing the adjusted family income ( above), the
allowance for each dependent child other than the
scholar under 16 years shall be fœ 10, At present, only
the first such child is allowed for at œ 150 and
subsequent children at œ 75 each.
Living Allowances:
The maximum living allowances for scholarship holders
are to be raised by per week for students living at
home ( making the allowance 0 per week) and 7/ 6d.
per week for students living away from home ( making the
allowance 7. 6 per week.)
The permissiole income, i. e. the amount that a scholar
may earn during term time without affecting his living
allowance is to be raised from œ 2 to 10. O per week
in the case of ordinary scholars and from 0 to
œ 3 per week in the case of independent scholars.
In assessing the living allowance in the case where
there are two students of the one family in courses
approved under the Commonwealth Scholarship Scheme and
one or both hold Commonwealth scholarships the living
allowance of one or both will be assessed by abating
the maximum allowances at half the normal rate; where
there are three such students the abatoment rate should
be 1/ 3rd the normal rate, and so on.
The Prime Minister said that all these changes would
operate from 1st April, 1962.
CAN3BERRA 1st April, 1962.