FED: Truancy crackdown to hit hip pocket: government

AAP General News (Australia)
08-25-2008
FED: Truancy crackdown to hit hip pocket: government

SYDNEY, Aug 25 AAP - The federal government will withhold welfare payments from the
families of children who consistently skip school in a bid to combat skyrocketing truancy
rates.

Legislation to enforce the radical new plan will be put to parliament this week in
a move that hopes to make school attendance a "mutual responsibility" for children and
parents alike, News Ltd newspapers report.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told News Ltd that if a child avoided school with no reasonable
excuse, welfare payments would be suspended for 13 weeks.

"The key thing is for us is to make the education revolution real for all kids where
school attendance is a real problem," Mr Rudd said.

"Obviously there can't be an education revolution for kids if they're not at school,
and we are determined to make sure across Australia that they are attending schools properly."

The decision to suspend welfare payments would come after communication between Centrelink
and schools.

"The kid who is away for days on end without a medical certificate, or without any
other reasonable presentation of grounds, those measures will kick in," Mr Rudd said.

"It's part of our approach of mutual responsibility and we think it is an important
way to go because it's those kids who miss out from regular school attendance who are
going to be the most vulnerable across the entire country."

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KEYWORD: WELFARE TRUANT

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