Around 750 families on 457 visas will be exempt from a $4,000 fee to send a child to a West Australian public school.
The
exemptions were revealed as the State Government announced its
long-awaited hardship provisions for the more than 3,300 families
affected by the new charges from next year. Under the hardship arrangements, families earning less than $75,000 a year will not have to pay.
Education Minister Peter Collier said the Government should have considered the issue more carefully.
"It's
not ideal. It's certainly not. And I think in retrospect we certainly
would have done it differently, quite frankly," he said.
"We needed much more forensic analysis of the number of students that we had first of all.
"And
also take into consideration the fact that a number of the 457 visa
holders were in fact earning wildly divergent income levels."
More than 2,600 families are expected to pay the new fee, delivering about $10 million into the Government's coffers.
"There are around 3,305 families at this stage that will be captured by the school fees," Mr Collier said.
"Of that, around 750 will be exempt."
Families can also seek relief from the fees due to exceptional circumstances, such as illness or unemployment.
They will be required to approach the Department of Training and Workforce Development to seek an exemption.
source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-13/school-fee-exceptions-announced-for-457-visa-holders/5889510
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