A REPORT from the Gonksi Institute for Education at UNSW Sydney released on Monday calculates that Australia could add more than $50 billion to its annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by improving educational outcomes for students in regional, rural and remote areas of the country.

The Economic Impact of Improving Regional, Rural & Remote Education in Australia – Closing the Human Capital Gap Report shows there is a $56 billion difference in earnings potential between rural, remote and regional students and their urban counterparts. 

To put the figure in perspective, $56 billion is larger than the contribution of the entire Australian tourism industry and four times the size of the Australian beef industry.

The report is the first major analysis from the Gonski Institute for Education, which was officially launched during an event on Monday. Based in the UNSW Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the Institute brings together scholars, policy-makers and practitioners to conduct research that will help improve academic and well-being outcomes particularly for disadvantaged students and those who live in rural and remote Australia. 

Adrian Piccoli, director of the Gonski Institute for Education, said it is widely acknowledged that closing the attainment gap is an educational and social imperative and the report further bolsters the argument by quantifying enormous financial gains. 

“The typical policy approach to improving economic growth, increasing employment opportunities and improving the standard of living in regional Australia is characterised by major investments from governments into regional infrastructure like roads, rail and hospitals,” Mr Piccoli said. “These investments are welcome, but the huge economic effect of investment in education is often underestimated and undervalued.” 

The report, led by UNSW Economics professor Richard Holden, analysed 2017 NAPLAN test scores to measure the educational attainment gap between nonurban and urban students. Using comparable data from the United States measuring differences in educational attainment and the earnings gap between black and white students, researchers scaled Australian results proportionally to determine that the earnings gap between rural, remote and regional Australia compared with urban Australia due to differences in human capital formation is 18.3 percent. 

Prof. Holden then mapped the result into economic outcomes by observing how much of economic output is earnt by labour, as opposed to other factors of production.

In Australia, this is currently 57 percent, according to ABS figures. Applying the share of the population living in rural and regional areas in Australia (31.5%) equals an economic gap attributable to differences in human capital of 3.3 percent of GDP. This implies that closing one-third of the gap between rural-remote-regional and urban human capital attainment would increase Australian GDP by 1.1 percent or $18.5 billion. Fully closing the gap represents a $55.5 billion GDP improvement.

Prof. Holden said the report’s findings are conservative as there is also a multiplier effect throughout the economy from increased productivity and wages.

“This report highlights the potential benefits to closing the urban and non-urban education gap, while also pointing to the types of interventions that need to be taken to do so,” Prof. Holden said.

“These are only the direct effects, on wages, of closing the human capital gap. There are important spill-overs in addition to this, such as improvements in physical and mental health and enrichment of communities.”

A copy of the report will be available at https://education.arts.unsw.edu.au/about-us/gonski-institute-for-education/research-and-policy-reports/

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THE Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources Committee will hold a public hearing in Canberra on Wednesday, 24 October 2018 as part of its inquiry into mining sector support for regional businesses.

The committee will meet with the Minerals Council of Australia, the industry body representing many major mining companies, to discuss ways the mining industry can contribute more to the communities where resources are extracted.

“There’s a lot more mining companies could be doing to help the regions,” said Committee Chair, Barnaby Joyce MP.

“This might be through increasing local procurement and employment, investing in training and skill development, and providing fair payment terms.”

Origin Energy will also be giving evidence at the hearing.

Public hearing details: 10:45am to 12pm, Wednesday, 24 October 2018, Committee Room 1R3, Parliament House, Canberra.

The hearing will be broadcast live at www.aph.gov.au/live

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THE Health, Aged Care and Sport Committee today presented its Report on the Inquiry into the Quality of Care in Residential Aged Care Facilities in Australia. The inquiry examined the delivery and regulation of the current aged care system and the prevalence of mistreatment.

The Committee Chair, Trent Zimmerman MP, stated that "while many Australians experience high quality aged care, the community is justifiably concerned about the many examples of abuse and mistreatment that have been exposed through recent inquiries and reporting".

"Our Committee received submissions from many residents and family members which outlined harrowing examples of mistreatment. This is not good enough for a nation like Australia," Mr Zimmerman said.

"Australia’s population is ageing, which will inevitably lead to more demand for residential aged care places. It is vital that there is an aged care system in place which has the confidence of consumers, is able to respond to changing expectations of care, and which responds effectively to any instance of mistreatment.’

"As the inquiry was nearing its end, the Australian Government announced a Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. The Committee has welcomed this announcement and other recent government measures to improve the provision of aged care services.

"At the same time, the Committee considers that the Royal Commission should not delay the implementation of improvements recommended in this Report and other recent reviews," Mr Zimmerman said.

The report made 14 recommendations, including:

• The development of national guidelines for the Community Visitors Scheme, including policies related to observed or suspected abuse or neglect;
• A review of the Aged Care Funding Instrument to ensure it is providing for adequate levels of care, is indexed annually and includes for penalty breaches;
• A Medicare Benefits Schedule review of medical practitioner visits to residential aged care facilities;
• That one Registered Nurse is always on site in residential aged care facilities; monitoring and reporting on the correlation between standards of care and staffing mixes;
• An independent review and parliamentary inquiry into the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission after two years of operation;
• Ensuring that unannounced visits by regulators to residential aged care facilities are not confined to business hours;
• Amending the Aged Care Act 1997 to limit and place conditions on the use of restrictive practices in residential aged care facilities; and
• Making information regarding the number of complaints and complainants at individual aged care facilities available on the My Aged Care website.

The Report is available at: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Health_Aged_Care_and_Sport/AgedCareFacilities/Report

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the http://www.aph.gov.au/health.

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INCREASING the supply of affordable rental properties for those ineligible for social housing is a key finding of a new report into the private rental sector, produced by the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre.
 
According to the report, which mirrors Community Housing Limited’s (CHL) experience as Australia’s leading not-for-profit housing provider, there is a significant lack of stock for those renters whose personal circumstances mean they are ineligible for government-supported rental housing.
 
The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Report into the Private Rental Sector (PRS) was based on an analysis of the 2016 census data and a separate survey of 3182 private renters.
 
Findings from the research found that six in 10 renters do so because they have no other option.
 
But it also found that almost half of those are paying over 30 percent of their income on rent, a proportion that rises to an untenable 64 percent for older respondents (over 55 years).
 
“An effective and affordable private rental sector would allow households to transition out of social housing and potentially save for owner occupation,” Steve Bevington managing director of Community Housing Limited said.
 
“Our experience supports the findings from the Curtin Report, which is that there’s a significant shortage of affordable housing for private rental, as there is for social housing.
 
“It’s imperative that we increase the stock of available affordable private housing, to both provide greater opportunity for those looking to transition out of social housing and to secure the tenure for those renting.
 
“According to the report which highlights the issue, one third of renters are forced to move due to the property being sold, while households that are most likely to suffer from discrimination are single parents with children.”
 
According to the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre report, a surprising one in four Australian households are rental properties, almost 26 percent of those in the private market and almost 30 percent in social housing.
 
“Even so, at CHL we know that the availability of stock is no-where near enough to satisfy demand and that successive federal and state governments are not highly motivated to realise more affordable housing,” Mr Bevington said.
 
“It’s a matter of economics, in this case the government’s.
 
“Releasing or investing in more affordable housing stock will flatten the housing market in terms of real estate values, so the desire for the market to function and the buying and selling of housing, reduces.
 
“This in turn means that the states will lose stamp duty revenue, while the Federal Government will also miss out on Capital Gains Tax.

“I believe an option for consideration is the removal stamp duty and replacing it with a land tax, meaning you don’t have windfall gains to transfer taxes and there isn’t incentivisation for unaffordability.”
 
During Homelessness Week earlier this year, CHL took the opportunity to again reinforce the need for a co-ordinated Australia-wide strategy to deliver 500,000 much-needed social and affordable houses.
 
It suggests a national approach that utilises the capabilities of all the stakeholders including government, not for profit and private sector to deliver a solution.
 
“Expanding the housing stock is part of the solution and what’s needed is a co-ordinated national strategy with a corresponding increase in funding and incentives to enable all stakeholders, government and private to create partnerships to invest in more housing and services,” Mr Bevington said.
 
“Buying existing properties to fill the gap is a shorter term solution, however it’s an expensive pathway, and is in fact in a major contributor to many people struggling with their personal circumstance and in some cases being homeless and needs urgent attention by all levels of the government.”  
 
Access and view the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Report into the Private Rental Sector (PRS) here: http://bcec.edu.au/publications/the-private-rental-sector-in-australia/
  
About Steve Bevington and CHL
 
Steve Bevington is the founder and managing director of Community Housing Limited (CHL),
 
After experiencing homelessness when he was younger, Mr Bevington was determined to make a difference in the world, and that he has. He has led CHL from a one worker organisation in his home in Melbourne to business operations into three of the four regions of the world which harbour extreme poverty.

By November 2018, CHL will have 11,000 properties under management in Australia making it the largest community housing provider in the country with operations across the six states and nearly 300 staff delivering services to support those most disadvantaged. 
 
Mr Bevington is one of Australia’s leading experts on housing affordability and is on the board of Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA), Australia’s peak body for community housing and is a key contributor to policy advocacy influencing government housing policies and initiatives.

CHL has a particularly strong commitment to housing those on low incomes, essential service workers and high and complex needs who have been disadvantaged in the market place.

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