FAMILY IMPACT SEMINAR REPORT · seminar to talk about young people and families. The seminar has...

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International )hulll )l'ar 'Hfi

FAMILY IMPACT SEMINAR REPORT

The 'Ufe cycle' of a typical nuclear familyhousehokf

1 CouttahIp and mantege Courtship brings -,t together a man and a woman 'rom different nuclear families

2 Chlckeartng ~ Birth (Of adoption)

of the 'rsl child starts a j(. new phase

3 Diaperaa. of the houaehold Ii "" ..... ~ ...... I I famoly 01 Ofogin 10 sel up households oflhe .. own

AIFS 306.85 ~ 0994 FIS

, First stage of marriage fill ......... "'" ~. It new nuclear family D1 is usualy concerned being fomle(l , with the formation of •

' household

tt The nuclearfaffi14y t ,~~aihes ~s maxmum ~F""""'''_ ~ as offspring reach o adolescence and prepare for 1aunching'

Middle aged parents i Household ceases 10 ,t IlOrmaly live alone. aner exisl WIIh the death lhe departure ollhe Of departure of the tast last ch4d survlYlllO member

YOUTH SURE AU, MI N J S TRY OF YOUTH AFF AI RS, INSTITUTE OF AUGUST, 1985

;)de.,b,\'d ~

FAMILY STUDIES, LIBRARy

AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE or: FAMILY STUDIES lEVEL 20, 485LATROBE STf~EET

MELBOURNE 3000 \ Ph: 03 9214 7888

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

The Seminar Program

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CONTENTS

Opening Speech by Minister of Youth Affairs,

The Hon. Barbara Wiese.

"Youth Adult Tr'ansition is not easy in the 80's"

Presentation by Don Edgar

Presentation by Sue Vardon

"The Economic Context for Youth Independence"

Presentation by Frank Maas

Presentation b¥ Ruth Doobov

"Family Processes and youth Success at School"

Presentation by Gay Ochiltree

Presentation by Claire McCarthy

"Implications for the field"

Summary of Panel Response

Appendi.x

Summary of Question Period

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24. I 36.

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49. I 54. I 55. I

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Hosts:

Chairperson:

Speaker's:

Pane 1 :

And thanks to:

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Youth Bureau and Institute of Family Studies.

Mr. Michael O'Neil, Chief Project Officer, Youth Bureau.

The Hon. Barbara Wiese, Minister for Youth Affairs.

Dr. Don Edgar, Director, Institute of Family Studies

Ms. Sue Vardon, Director General, South Australian

Department of Community Welfare

Mr. Frank Maas, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of

Family Studies

Ms. Ruth Doobov, Acting Branch Head, Commonwealth Education

Department.

Ms. Gay Ochiltree, Research Fellow, Institute of Family

Studies

Ms. Claire McCarthy, Vice-President, South Australian

Institute of Teachers

Stuart Sellar, Par'a Vista High School

Barbara Whittle, South Australian Department of Technical

and Further Education

Debbie Lindner, Elizabeth Community Youth Support Scheme

Jenny Kennedy, 104 Youth Project

Ellen Brien, Gawler Housing Assistance Scheme

Students from Gilles Plains High School.

Par'ticipants.

Lea Addy and Kerry DrBgemuller for transcribing the report.

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The Youth Bureau in conjunction with the Institute of Family Studies hosted a

Fami ly Impact Seminar' on August 28th, 1985. The Seminar resulted from an

off'~r' by the Institut'~ of Family Stud:i.,~s to assist in conducting an activity

in South Australia as part of International Youth Year.

The Seminar examined young people's transition to adulthood in the context of

the family and the broader socio-economic environment. In doing so, it

cov"~r'(~d suc.h issues as employment, unemployment, family relationships, income

securi ty, changing fami ly structures, and education. One hundred and for'ty

workers from a variety of youth related fields attended.

The intention of the Seminar was twofold - firstly to provide a developmental

OPpoy'tl.lnity for indillidual worker's and secondly to str'en~rthen and develop the

n~~tw()r'ks of the South Australian youth affairs field. The provision of

cl.lY'Y'ent information about research and policy dellelopments is central to the

achiellement of both these aims.

This report includes the presentations of the speakers in addition to

surnmades of question periods and panel input. Youth Bureau, Ministry of

Youth Affairs, and th,~ Instituh~ of Family Studies hop,,~ you.will find it a.

valuable resource document and that it will serlle to stimulate further

discussion and debate.

Youth Bureau, Mini sty·y of Youth Affai rs

Institute of Family Studies

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Cof.f.~~g

Q'pJ~.!l:~_n9_ ... .Qf._Seminar _ .. Minister of Youth Affairs,

2!!..~~t i Qn .. ...ri.,mg Mo rlJi!!9_.J,g~

Session 2: Topic:

9ue.!tiQ.!J Ti.~g

b. u n £.t.!.

~~~_~ iOJ:.l_.J...:.. __ Topic:

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~f.t..E:lr.!!.2.Qn .. _I.ea.

Hon. Barbara Wiese, M.L.C.

"Youth adult transition is not easy in the

80's"

Dr. Don Edgar - Director, Institute of

Family Studies

Ms. Sue Vardon _. Director--General, South

Australian Dept. for Community Welfare

"The economic context for youth independence"

Mr. Frank Maas, Institute ~f Family Studies

Ms. Ruth Doobov Acting Branch Head, Student Assistance Policy Development·

Branch, Commonwealth Education Department

"Family processes and youth success at

school"

Ms. Gay Ochiltree, Institute of Family

Studies

Ms. Claire McCarty - Vice President, South

Australian Institute of Teachers

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.e.~neJ ___ r.'1.~'!!.!?~r.~ : Stuay·t Se lIar School Councellor, Para Vista High School

Barbara Whittle - Education Program for Unemployed Youth,

Co-··ordinator, Dept. Technical & Further

Education

. Debbie Lindner, Elizabeth Community Youth Support Education

Scheme

Jenny Kennedy, 104 Youth Project

ElIen Brien, Gawler Housing Assistance Scheme

Cl 0 ~.ilJ9_J)_~!. ion.

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- OPENING SPEECH -

Minister of Youth Affairs - The Hon. Barbara Wiese.

It is a great pl~asure for me to have been invited to open the seminar.

I am delighted that so many people have been interested in attending the

seminar to talk about young people and families.

The seminar has been organised by the Youth Bureau with whom I work. I hope

that seminars like this will bring appropriate recognition and attention to

the work of the Youth Bureau.

Included in the organisation of th~ seminar was the Institute of Family

Studies and the S.A. International Youth Year Co-ordinating Committee.

In planning the seminar, the organisers were concerned to bring together a

diverse range of individuals who are working closely with young people and in

many cases their fami lies. I know, from the number and variety of

registr'ations for today's seminar 'that they've been very successful in

bringing together the range of people who will contribute to a very worthwhile

discussion during the day, Attending today are student coun,sellors, workers

with youth, individuals from the Child, Adolescent and Family Health Services

(CAFHS), community youth support scheme workers, neighbourhood youth workers,

career counsellors and representatives from colleges of advanced education and

many government departments.

The calendar of events for International Youth Year in South Australia

identified this occasion as a major initiative for 1.. y, y, This seminar is

intended to' providE:~ an opportunity for those working closely with young people

to leal~n more about curr'ent resear'ch and policy. developments in the area of

youth and families.

Much of ~h~ innovative work in this area is being carried out by the Institute

of Family Stud ies under the leadership of Or. Don Edgar and I am delighted to

welcome him and members of the Institute of South A~stralia.

When I met Or. Edgar just prior to this meeting, he said it's nice to meet a

Politician who actually listens and· reads the material that his institute puts

out. I can assure him that many of us do and use it constantly and I think

that the work being done there has been important in the formation of

gOvernment policy,


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We ar'e 1n a time of rapid economic, social 'and technological change. The

impact of change is being' felt by young people and their families. We are

witnessing changing family structures, a rapidly changing economic context for

youth and new challenges for young people as they make the transition from

youth to adulthood.

A recent Australian National Opinion Poll (ANOP) survey highlighted the fact

that the majority of young people define independence in economic ter'ms. That

same survey went on to highlight what they called "the paradox of

independence" in that there exists in Australian society today, a dilemma

between the aspirations of young people for independence and their ability to

achi(?I/e independence. This "paradox of independence" was s(~en to be related

to the factor of youth unemployment, wherein the last decade the proportion of

young people in the 15-24 age group who were receiving unemployment benefits

had increased from about 1.3% to 11.4%.

In the context of economic independence a mu 1 ti tude of factors need to be

acknowledged.

some 75% of young people sti 11 deri\le most of their income from wages and

salaries.

some 38 -- 40% of students at school are working part-time, citing as their

major reason for this their desire for economic independence.

the mix of part-time to full-time positions in the labour market continues

to alter, stimulated by new sector growth in the recreation, hospitality

and commuflity service areas, coupled with legislative change (e.g. late

night shopping), new technologies, and employment practices.

school retention rates continue to increase, paralleled by increasing

participation rates in further and higher education.

some 19% of young people in the 15-24 age group now derive most of their

income fr'om government benefits and allowances including over 73 ,000

students recei\ling the Tertiary Education Assistance Scheme, T.E.A.S.

allowance ..

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Access to income support, either fr'om within the family or fr'om sources

outside the family is a vital element in the growth to independence.

But there are other elements as we 11. Personal and soc ial independence is

closely related to other issues and I have just listed some of these:

access to housing,

access to information to assist in decision ma~ing and enable the

achievement of personal autonomy,

access to education and opportunities for the developmE-mt of work skills,

social education t9 achieve personal confidence, self-esteem, negotiating

skills and life skills.

The li st can be expanded upon and I am sure that this wi 11 form part of todays

discussion and debate.

As family structures change the relationship of young people to families also

changes. Family for'mation has alter~!d quite markedly in the last decade and a

half. For instance, in 1971, the proportion of males, 20-24, who had never

marr'ied was 64%. It is now 75%. For females the proportion in 1971 was 36%

but is now 55%. The decline in first marriage rates is the result of a number

of social, economic and personal factors which are complex in origin.

At the same time, there was a marked growth in the proportion of young people

who are not members of families. For 20-24 year olds, the proportion

increased from 10.9% in 1969 to 24.3% in 1982. A similar trend, but of lesser

magni tude was observed for 15·-19 year olds.

Clearly, the large increase in the pr'opor'tion of the youth population who were

not members of families is a reflection of the decline in marriage rates and

an increasing tendency for young people to set up their own households.

While family structures are changing, it is important to recall that the

proportion of young people living with their parents is still quite high but

declines with the age of the young person. For instance, in 1984, 98% of

15-16 year aIds were living with parents whereas by the age of 23 or 24 only

some 26% of young people were sti 11 at home with parents.

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Successful "Transitions" for young people are dependent on many factors and I

know that muth of this will be the subject of discussion today. The influence

of famil ies on young people varies, often dependent upon the quali ty of

relationships within family structures as well as factors such as:

the varying needs of young women and young men

income support

access to training opportunities in the areas of apprenticeable trades and

the recently announced traineeships

access to and support for further study and educational options

family support services, health and community services

In opening this seminar, I congratulate those involved in organising the day,

I encourage your participation throughout the seminar, and for the remaining

months of International Youth Year, I look forward to reading the report that

will be produced by the Youth Bureau.

I know it will be a success and I wish you well.

Thank You.

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"YOUTH ADULT TRANSITION IS NOT EASY IN THE 80's" . ........... ~M •• M •••••••••••••• __ .~. __ ._ •• ___ ........... __ •••• _ ....... _ •• _. __ •• ___ .. _ .... __ •••••• _ ......................... _~_._. __ • ___ •••••• _

PRESENTATION BY OR. DON EDGAR - QIRECIQ.R~t_._INSTITUTE-.2LfJ~.~..!hX STUDIES.

The image of growing up and the transition to adulthood is difficult to see.

It can be seen as the chi Id emerging on the back of the parents and

parachuting off. Once the child is launched, the parents disappear. It has

occurred to me that thi s is not the right image at all. Because of the

preparation involved, the right image is more like the Ausat Satellite. Many

technologists and experts are involved in preparing children for life. There

is lots of anxiety about whether the input will work. When the thing is

finally fired, everyone breathes a sigh of relief. The programs were right _

the education program, the youth program, the income suppor't progr'am etc. But

when it is launched, is it firing the correct signals? Those of us who have

grown children experience this.

The Institute have done a number of studies of young people which wi ll· be

drawn on through the morning. The basic model we use is the notion of competence which is outlined in figure 1.

Competence is centr'al to the achievement of adulthood. In fact it's central

to the achievement of anything in life. By competence we mean the ability to

control your own life. If you do not have what we call the confident self and

the equipment for confidence, you are not going .to go very far as an

independent adult. The difficulty is that confidence is not something you

achieve through your own efforts. Unfortunately, in a society such as ours,

(and in most societies) confidence is socially distributed ..

The opportunities for young people to learn to be cohfident human beings are

structured by such things as sex and cultural background. The oppor·tuni ties

for wonHm have been s{;~riously depleted because of the structures our society

has built up. Migrant peoP.le coming into Australia have different levels of

OPPOY'tuni ty fr'om those who are born into the dominant main-stream cu I ture.

Aborigines do not have the same structured opportunities as thos~ with

English-Australian backgrounds.

.The cultural processes that go along with social distribution of confidence

inVOlve a diverse range of values. Values such as; men are more important

than women: education of an academic kind is more important than technical Skills education.


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COMPETENCE MODEL or YOUTH TRANSITION

TO ADULT INDEPENDENCE

SocIal

/ Structured

~rtu~

Equipn~nt for

Unpet~ce~

DIstrIbution of competence\

Cultural Processes

/ and Mediator

Success of Failure

educa t i ona 1

occupat ional

The cOTpetent Se! f

/ personcl '-elat lonships

Achievement of Adult

Independence

1 The family usually provides the nexus for the development of religious and

po li tical values.

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The cu I tures thCl.t pertain in soc iety, the opportuni ties

that are avai lable are. essentially med iated v ia the fami ly. Thus the fami ly

becomes an extr'emely important factor in mediating the way in which society itself is set up.

] f you come from a fami ly background where dad I s Cl doctor, and mum I s a lawyer,

dnd they have plenty of money to send you to a good schoo I and to a

univer'sity, you gpt th(~ right d(~grees Cl.t. the right time, graduate and move

illHnediately into a job cHld begin. ear'ning good money, you Cl.n~ going to achieve

c.dul thood wi thout a gr'eat deal qf tr'ouble, at least on UI(> surface. It may not iTll!arl t L 'Iolt you

successes have not (!l1Ierge feeling part.icular·ly confid(~rtt especially if your

b(>en through your Own efforts. A very impor-tant part of

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the launching of children is that they do things for themselves and feel that

they are doing it. So the process of education and the process by which

families structure opportunities is quite important.

I want to touch just briefly on the a~hievement of success or failure before

mo\/ il'1g on to some examples of what appears to be happening to young people

today. We argue basically in our research on young people and growing up that

wi thin the values system of this society, although not necessari ly in other'

societies, in order to become an independent adult you have to succeed in at

least three areas:

1. School

2. Work

3. Relationships

There ar'e no doubt others, but this is a .fairly simplified model. If you

don't succeed at school, you don't get a job. It's as simple as that. If you

succeed in school work of a particular kind, you ar'e pushed in the direction

of a particular kind of job rather than other sor'ts of jobs. If the labour

mar'ket changes and you have been educated in the wrong stream, you're pushed

out of the main·-stream chance of success. One of the points I think needs to

be addressed at length is that our education system is not designed for

success - it is designed for failure. We structure failure into the system,

through examinations, through tests, through poor' performance, through

put .... ·downs, through the de·-fusing of motivation for many young people. The

whole system is designed to win certificates, to compete. Only a few can gain

those qualifications, those marks of success, and yet there are totally

different models of education which are focussed on success.

These models stress mastery of every aspect of learning. We don't allow many

of our children to pass at every~hing because we force them to move up at the

end of the school year. If they haven't learned we still move them up. There

are many school systems elsewhere that don't relay upon this model. I think

We have to look very closely at the way in which our education system

generally is based upon not success but rather failure.

One has to succeed in an occupation. Young people need independence and the

means to independence is to h~ve money. Thi s is why young people work

part-time work, the desire for jobs, often they feel put down where that money

has not been achieved by their own efforts but rather some system such as the

I dOle. I think ·we have got to look very closely at what sor·ts of occupations

~.proVide and why we accept the notion that we can not create more jobs,


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The third area of achievement is probably more important in a sense than all

the others because we are after all emotional human beings. We don't exist by

bread alone or money alone. We do need to form relationships with other

'adults and particularly sexual relationships with other adults. In our

changing society we are finding some marked shifts in the capacity of young

people to achieve personal relationships that are fulfilling and lasting.

There have been enormous changes in family structure. One of the major shifts

which is sometimes forgotten is the labour force participation of women. This

is iqustrated in figure 2.. Women still essentially carry the bulk of child

c.are/chi Id rearing. In our studies we find some indications that young men

are saying, they want to be more involved with their children, and the

housework. In fact they do more housework, but it is still a miniscule

proportion of the burden of rearing children. As Brian Jackson said in his

book on fatherhood, we are ignoring the double engine behind the chi lds

potentiality which exists in the father. This potentiality is denied by men

who devote total time to work, us ing work as an excuse not to interact with

their children.

Women work not just because they have to, because· they are looking for some

level of control in their own lives, but also because children cost· a lot.

FIGURE 2 4t Mother 's Labour force participation <I)

Married couples

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Figure 3 details a study on the cost of children carried out a couple of years

ago by the Institute of Family Studies. It gave a minimal costing of food and

clothing, minimal diet and food. We ran a very simple shopping basket

technique for chi Idr'en aged 2, 5, 8 and 11. The ver'yobvious but ignor'ed

cone Ius ion from those stati sties is that the cost of chi Id rearing increases

with agE:1 -.. ·(a child agE~d 2 cost $15.47 per' week, a child aged 11 cost $26.41

per week). Our benefits, our family allowances, our child allowarices through

thE~ social welfare sysh~m are not indE~xed at all or vaded according to the

age of chi ldl"en. That I S a n~al probl~~m. Maintenance payments through the

rami ly court ay'e al so inadequate and don I t take account of changing needs with

age.

Figure 4 gives an indication of the ~~rowth in di.vor'ce statistics since 1976.

In the last couple of years the divorce rate has started to downturn and level

out: This is partly because the propor'tion of l1lar-riages is also beginning to

decrease. Obviously if you have 100% of people getting married, some of them

wi 11 be lousy at it and you wi 11 get a fai rly high divorce rate. If you have

fewer people getting married, one hopes it wi 11 be those who are good at

marTiage and you wi 11 have a lower d i \lorce rate. The point simply is that

families nowadays are rather different from the way they were in the past.

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COMPOI\lENT AGE 2 5 B 11

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$ $ $ $ Food 10.43 l.l .43 1!;.61 16.24 Cl()th:i.n~~ and FootwE~ii\r' 2.2"7 2 .. 69 3.20 3.70 HOUS(~~lOld pr'ov i s ions .BO .SO .BO .BO Hei>\t, electdci ty, gas 1. 47 1. 47 1. 47 1. 47 Toys and pres(~nts .50 .50 .75 .75 Pocket money .37 .37 1.00 Costs of schooling .B5 .S5 .S5 Enter'tainmE:mt 2.00 2.00 2.00

~ .. --.... -... -........ -... --.-.. - .................................. --............................. __ .. _ .... _ .... _ .............................................. _ ..... _ ........ _. __ ... _ ..................... __ .............. _ .......... _._ ..... _ ...... -_ .... _-_ ... _ ............. -TOTAl.. COSTS PER WEEK TOTAl.. COSTS PER YEAR

1~).47

S04.44 20. l.l.

1045.72 25.05

1302.60 26.B1

1394.12 ------.. __ .. _ .. _ ............. _-----_. __ ........ _ .... _._ .. _ .. __ ._ .. _.-_._ ... __ ....... _ ....... _ ..................... _ ... _---_ .. _----_ .. _-_ .. -.. _._--_. __ ._------

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FAMJLVLAW ACT. 1975

1975

.LONG-TERM TREND LINES

REGRESStON. U17fJ-81 DATA

.. -~~- REGRESStON. 19t}9-1975 DATA

19n 1979 1981 1183

............... MARTYR. 1980 JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE FAMILY LAW ACT

SOuRcEs: RePORT OF THE .JOtNT SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE F AMIL Y LAW A£T. 1980 ASS DIVORCES AUSTRALIA 1812

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Figure 5 provides a picture of family structures in Australia now. It is

important to remember, the majority of people still live in two parent

fami lies. It is very easy to exaggerate divorce and step-parent families,

de-facto marriages and so on but 46. 5'X. of all fami lies are married couples

wi th dependent chi ldren. The 32. 4'X. married couples are either young couples

who have not yet had chi Idren but wi 11 have or older couples who have had

their children. There has been a. large increase in the number of single

parent famil'ies. These fami lies often face poverty. Many are living well

below the poverty line. This is an intolerable situation for any society such

as ours. When we talk about the burden on taxpayers of supporting parent

be~efits, I argue ,that they are looking after children and that's the

important thing. I f we don I t prov ide some sort of support for them, what ..

happens to the kids. The whole process of growing up and becoming confident

is virtually gone.

Because of these changes in fami ly patterns, we have seen some remarkable

changes in the patterns of leaving home, and becoming independent.

FIGURE 5

tt Australian Families 1ge2 <$)

4.070.500 families. 66$ with offspring present


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The Institute d id a national study of young people ag{~d 18-34, the family

formation survey, which included many young people who had already left home,

mar-ried and had chi Idren. Some of th(~m were already separated and divorced.

It also included large numbers of young people not yet marr'ied either living

wi th parents, at college, or 1 iv ing in group houses. Figure 6 illustrates the

results of the SUrVE:1Y. During the 70 I S a large number' of women left home in

order to get mar-ried. The bulk of them left for vocational reasons,

particularly the men. The process of transition f.rom home was go to school,

g~~t a job, leave home, then eventually get married. A fairly straightforward

sort of pathway to adulthood and independence. Marriage, in other words, was

the path\",ay to independent adulthood and it was a fairly straightforwar'd

process. Compare that with men and women who were leaving home during the

80 I s when we were doing the survey. Marriage - has decreased enormous ly. ~

Young people are not leaving home in order to get marr'ied. They are leaving

home for other reasons. Often independence. They want to achieve'

indepEmdence and the only way they can achieve independence was to get away

fr'om parents hopefu lly wi th some economic means for support. Vocational

reasons are fairly important, but so is leaving home for reasons of conflict.

During the 70's only 8% of men and 16% of women left home for the first time

under the age of 18 fo~ reasons of conflict compared to 16% men and 20% women

in the 80' s . I\low if you put together the conflict and independence you ha\/e a

massive number of young people leaving home because they cannot get on at ~ome

and because their ind'ependence as an adult is not being recognised within

families. Within the survey we asked them when they left home the first time

and whether they ever r'eturned home and of cour'se massive numbers do return

home. They leave, they get into a flat somewhere, they find the dole is not

enough or they can't gl'!t a job so they go back home. What us~d to be called

the empty nest syndrome of housewives is now really the never empty nest.

The pattern of youth transition to adulthood has been complicated. Education

is not really working for the success of many young people. Occupations are

not necessari ly avai lable and the demand for qual i fications has increased.

The thr'ust of Government policies has been in the direction of prolonged

dependence, pro longed education, i.~nd some problems wi 11 perhaps ari se fr'om that.

..... 11:> .....

r:lq.ld.B1;; .... .§. .. ~ R~~asons for first I...eav ing Home

h.~JL .. .tm~.L .... I!~ ..... ~.f.Ht~.Y. ..... 7..Q .. ~ ... ~.

19 .. ·-22 YEARS Femi~les % Females % Males %

................................. _., ........................ -........... _ .. _ ...................................................... _ .............. _ .............................................. ~ ............. -............. -......... -.-...................................................... _ .................................. -_._ ..... _ ............ __ ...... " .......... _-

Mi~rT:iagl:~ 25.8 2.2 62.5 40.3 Confl :i.ct 16.4 8.1 5.4 4.7 InclepEmdence 13.8 20.7 12.6 24.0 Vocational 32.'1 ~)O. 4 10.3 1'7.8 Other 11.3 18.5 9.2 13.2

18 YEARS 19-·22 YEARS Females % Males % FE~males % Males %

........................................................................................................................ •• ••••••••••• M .. • .... ·_ ......... _ ......... M ..................................................................................... _. __ ._ .......................................... _ ......... _ ..... _ .............. _ ................................................ .

Mal",..' i i.'lqe 9.4 1.7 44.1 1.3.7 Confl :i. et 20.5 16.5 11.8 15.7 Ind~~pend~~nce 31..0 32.2 22 .. 1 3'7.3 Vocational 26.3 33 .0 13.3 13.7 Other 12.8 1.6.5 8.8 1.9.6

I I I I I I I I· I I I I I I I I I I I I I

I I I I I I I I I I

11 ,

I I I I I

-~ 16 _.

I want to finish by simply reminding you that we can get an exagerated view of

the difficulties of young people. The results of a study done some years ago

detailed in Figure 7 an~ a terrific r'eminder that youth in transition to

adulthood are really at the most optimistic point in their lives. It's too

easy to paint a picture of youth in tu r'moil , wor-ried about life, death,

destruction, nuclear war. etc.

In thi s study, I interviewed adolescents and their fathers. There have been

no stud ies that looked at fathers. There have been doz(·ms that looked at

mothers. I didn't have, enough money to interview both. so I switched the bia~

ar'ound. Repondants were asked to 'indicate agreement/disagreement with a

series of statements. Some notable responses were as follows:-

"I take a positive attitude towar'ds myself" boys 66% yes, girls 41% yes"

fathers 7"1.. ¥es.

"I feel like a person of worth, at least on an equal plane with others"

boys 75%, girls 65% fathers 2% yes, 90% of fathers absolutely disagree

with the statement. In other words they are saying, I don't feel like a

person of equal worth.

"On the whole I think I am a happy person" boys 81%, girls 78% fathers

4.7%. So I ask you what the youth problem is and I suggest that the youth

problem is maybe fathers. Perhaps when we reach middle age we get a bit

tired, jobs are 'perhaps closing off, maybe the marriage isn't so good and

we take it out on the teenagers.

That study involved a very detailed look at young people and the attitudes of

parents, but it does of course need to be put· into the context ~f the specific

Worries of young people. These are illustrated in Figure 8. Young people are

Worried and rightly so about getting a job. Hard drugs are a big concern.

Nuclear war is also quite a big conc~rn. but notice the degree of concern is

Significantly differ'ent from one thing to another. I don't want to suggest

that all young people, of course, are optimistic and facing life with

furVour. Many of them are not and that, of course, is the main point. I'll

leave you with a message; "all my father left me was a dusty little swag and a

Pair of tiny booties in a crumpled paper bag, and he' left me in confusion and

he left me in despair, and he left the swag and booties for the walk to God knows where! ! " . .

-.. 1"1 _ ...

FIGURE 7 ..................................... -

• •••• ......................... H ............................. .-. .... __ ............................ _ ........................ __ ........ _ .......... _ .. __ .................................... _ .................. _ ......... __ ....... ___ .............................. __ ......... _____ ...... ___ ._ ............ _._

% STRONGLY AGREE OR AGREE ................................................................... __ . __ ...... _ ..... _---_ ....... -

QUESTIONNAIRE ITEM BOYS

% GIRLS

% FATHERS

% ................................................................................................................................................................. .-........ _ ................................................. _ ........ _ ... _ ....... _ .... -............................................. __ .......... _ .. _._._---_ ........... _ ............... -

AUTHORITARIANISM CONSERVATISM

1. The most important thing to teach children is absolute obedience to their parents 36

2. Young people should not be allowed to read books that are likely to confuse them 33

3. People who question the old and accepted ways of 'doing things usually end up causing trouble 33

4. In this complicated world, the only way to know what to do is to rely on leaders and experts 23

5. Any good leaders should be strict with people under him in or'der to gain their resp{~ct 40

6. It's wrong to do things differently from the way our forefathers did 10

7. Once I've made up my mind, I seldom change it

8. It generally works out best to keep on doing things the way they have been done before

41

32

36 57

22 46

22 70

13 68

37 31

5 87

40 38

22 61 ... _ .... _ ........................... _ .... __ ........ __ ... _ ...... _ .. __ ............. -...... -................. --............ -... -...... ~ ....... --.. -............... -..... _ .............. _ ...... _-._ ... _-... _ .. _.-.............................. _ .... _-.. _ .. _ ... __ ... _ ...... _--_ ... _-_ ...... -.......... -

TRUS·TTUL..NESS

9. Do you think that most people can be trusted?

10. If you don't watch out, people will take advantage of you

39

70

35 26

58 32 -.................................... _ ................................................. _ ............................................................ _ ................................................................................. __ ._ ....... __ ...................................................... _ .... _ ........... _._ ........... _ .... -... __ ... _ .............. ..

SELF····CONFIDEI\lCE

11. 1 take a p~sitive attitude towar:ds mysdf

12. I feel I'm a person of worth, at least on an equal plane with others

13. I am able to do most things as well as other Ptlople can

75

78

41.

65

75

7

2 (90..2% disagree)

1l. . 8 (77.7% disagree)


I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

I

- 18 -

Q8ESTIONNAIRE ITEM

14. I generally have confidence that when I make plans I will be able to carry them out

._-------_ .. _-% STRONGLY AGREE OR AGREE

BOYS GIRLS % %

FATHERS %

70 66 4 (86.1% disagree)

15. On the whole, I think I am quite a happy person 81 78 4.7

SELF-DEPRECIATION

16. I wish I could have more respect for myself

17. At times I think I am no good at all

18. I feel useless at times

19. I wish I could be as happy as others seem to

20. There are very few things about which I am absolutely certain

N = --------_._----

(84.9% disagree)

38 30 62.8

43 64 69.5

44 66 50

be 41 37 67

35 41 53 ----_. __ .. _------

660 554 792

- 19 -

Specific Worries of Young People

Young people were given a list ot 8 areas ot possible concern and were asked to indicate how much concern was feU about eaCh. Percentages relate to the proportions ot young people expressing 'very much' and 'Quite a lot' concern.

Unemploy_

ment

76%

54%

Herd Drug~

·73%

50%1

Nudeer Wer

59%

22%

Wel fere Benef Its for young people

55%

24%

iemlly relet lon-~hlps

problems

53%

Educetlon

VERY MUCH

QUITE A LOT

42%

21%

No. of migrents

. in Aus t •

41%

22%

Soft

Drugs


I I I I I I I

.... 20 .....

.. ' ... y'g.~rr.!::L. ... 0.P.~~.~:T .... Ig0 .. N.§J.:J:.;~9.~ ..... I~ ..... N9I ..... f::;.0..§.Y.. .... TI\L. . .JJ::I.L ..... ?.Q .. ~?. ... ~ ... .:.

M~:; · ....... ~:;.~J..F,::.~ ... Y...0.B.P9..N. .... :::: ..... .PJ:.B..F,::.~;: .. T9.r.~ ...... ~~;JJ~EJ~.f.1J: .. ! ........ §~?\J. ..... LI::I ...... f.1V..§IB.f.1.!:If.1N ..... PY.p.· .. r.· ....... ~::.9M.M.v.N.r.IY.. ..... WI.bY.0..R.f:: ..

I have been asked to look at the impact of young people today on the Welfare

Departmpnt and what: w(~ S(~(~ as sonw of thl~ issues. I w:i.ll b(;\ refering to only

some youn~~ people ..... Uw 5% that come to Stab~ W(~ ~ fal"(~ D(~par'tm(~nts not thos(;\

who will str~ggle through adolescence and bounce into a happy future. We are

I"emind(,~d in lrl"l:el"national Youth Y(~ar' that we I')(~(;~d to conc(mtr'at(~ on sClln(.~ of

th(~ young) peoph1 who anm't going to follow that path .... disabled, hom(d(;1ss,

aboriginal young people. Department for Community Welfare has only just I ClCC(~pt(~d som(~ of th(~ challenges of Inb~I"national Youth Y(~ar. I would lih~ to

I I I

forcishadow some of the things Department for Co~nunity Welfare are thinking of

doing.

There are a lot of young people who are facing unemployment. If you live in

Ceduna or Coober Pedy and if you are a young aboriginal person your chances of

ever' qetting wOI"k an~ n(;1gli~~ible. lhE:~re an~ young peoplE~ in the ouh~r suburb's

of Addaide whose chances of g(~tting wor'k are negligibl(~. Transport pn)bl(~ms

m(~i3lI'l jobs an~ inacc(~ssible to UH~m. l cam(~ fr'om New South Wales where we I ~)p(~nt a lot of tim(~ wOI"k ing with younq p(~ople fl"om the Western Subud)s of

I

I I I I

Sydn(~y . They h6\U(~ th(H'(-~ an absolutE~ cr-isis. AltholJ~3h then~ are jobs for'

young people in the centre of towns and cities, the young people are

d i sad\Jarl"ta~l(~d by a nUmb(H' of factors, 1'1 0 1'1 E:1 of thl~m t~w i r' 'own mak i n9 . They an~

disadvantaqed by the V(?I"y fact that tJwy l.iV(~ in the W(~st(~r'n Subur'bs. ll)(~

bias a~:)a:i.nst the WE:1sb;11"n Suburbs i s ~;o str'onq that (1mploYE:11"S won't take th(~m

on. We don't have that pr'obl(Wl hel"(~ y(~t in SOI.it:h Austl"i~l ia. I hav(m't .yet

hei3lr'd of sonwone n~fLls(H~ employmE:1nt b(\c"\lJS(~ thE:1Y al"(~ f'i"om NoarllJrl~3a in thE:1

South.

Young people who are unemployed come to Department for Community Welfare

becaLls(~ th(~y

aVai lablE~ an~

are very very poor. The

not sat :i. s fi'~ctol"y for' young

income benefits that are CUI"I"(~nt l.Y

pE:1OplE~ who 1 i \I(~ by thE~msel\/es. A!;

the State GO\l(~I"nI1H~nt does not ha\l(~ a I"ol(~ of il'lcom(~ llla:i.l'lt(~nal'lce the chalJ.(~nq(.;! fOI" LIS :i. s to constantly r'emind t~w Fm:I(~r'al GOVE:1r'nmE:1nt about th(~ impact of Ulf~ low Waqf~ and low :i.nCOl1lf~ ben~~fits to young p(wple. Although W(~ an~ pl(~as(~d to

See income benefits have just gone up we still know fr~m youth workers in the

field that you can't actually rent decent accommodation and buy food on the

21 ..

anmunt available. Department for Co~nunity Welfar~ needs to consider what are

wp go:i.n~J to do about incomE:~ maintE:manu~, how lon~~ WE:' go on supporting young

p~~opl{~ .

It is awful for' a YOI.lng per'son to have to COI1lE~ to Uw We 1 fare Depar't;nH~nt and

actually put for'war'd a case to pr'ove that they need money. It low{~rs U'H:l ppr'son' s sE:~lf-'E:~stE:~pm dup to feE:~lin~~sof depE.mdE:mc.y on thp State. Thi s is contr'ar'y to indE~pendence in thE~ long I"Im. Dl~partment for' Commun i ty We 1 fare

has to think about thE~ attitudes of thE:~ plwple at th(;l counter and how thE~y

relate to those young people. I don't think we have got it right yet but we

are working on it.

The big problem our Department has is finding accomnmdation for young people,

pal"t:i.culal"ly accommodation that has some kind of SUPE~l"\ti!l:i.on. There has b(~(~n

a big developmpnt in minimally supprvised housing, (small housps whpre four or

five kids live and someonE~ visits eVE~I"y now and again) .. I think this is v(~ry

exciting. I went to see onp the other day and I talked to th~ young men who

WE~I"e ther'e. They had lE~oH'nt how to spend money, how to cook, how to budget .. _

a wholE:~ lot of skills that they hadn't learnt fr'om· UH:~i.r' pan~nts. The gir'ls

had thosE~ skills, but the boys w(~n? in LII"gEmt rHH-?d of thE?m. The challenge for

thp welfare department is working with the Housing Tr~st to try and develop a

whole I'H~W r'ange of subsidiE~d housing ser'vices with minimal supervision.

One of the interesting things the Wplfare Department has sppn is a drop in·thp

age at which offendirig behaviours and running away behaviours occur,

pal"ticuli.'lrly fOI" ~~ir'ls. It used to b(;~ J.r:>···16 and oldl~r·. It has now gOrH.~ down

to 13·-14 and many of 01.11" pEwple an? worTied about the 10, 11 and 12 yE?ar's olds

who an' running away fr'om homE~. This cr'eates for IJS a cdsis. We no lon~~E~I"

put young gil"l.s on exposE~d to mOI"(;ll dal'1~3E~r chal"ges. But what we have b~nd{?d

to do is noth:i.n~l. Many of thl~sE:~ gir'ls ar'e r'unning awa.Y fr'on1 bad fami.l.y

situations. It is ll.k{dy that one in f:i.\I~~ gil"l.s r'unning away ar'e going to be

lI:ict:i.ms of sE:~xLlal as!lI.Ialt within th~~:i.I" farn:iliE:~s. What I.Is~~d to be cons:i.d~~r'E:'d

ofhmd.ing I:H~haviol.ll" or pl"ol11isciol.ls I:H~ha\l:i.oul~ that ne~~dE:ld to be modif:i.~?d, is

now spen as self-··dE:~stF'l.lct:i.ng bl~hav:i.ol."" which is t~1E:' 1'·E:~Sl.tl.t of constant and cont:i.l'1l.1al. i;lbuse. Without care, these children will become the' constant

lI:ictil11s of pOWE:~I~ s'ysh'ms which will n?infcwce thEdr' fE:~elin~.J of low

self-estpBm. The Comnwnity Welfare Department needs to change attitudes right

throughout the system - in policips right down to thp attitudes of the

Not only do w~~ have to chang(~ attitudes wi. thin the Depar'tnHmt we

hc\l1E:~ to chan~~E:~ thOSE~ of thE~ pol:i.c{~, h~adH~rs and any othE:~r' pE.~rson that comE~S into contact with these children.



_ .. 22 -...

Our State has an enormous amount of resources for naughty boys.- almo~t. half

the sprvices of th~~ Department in the past (it is somewhat reduced now) ar'e

dir'ected towards mal(~ delinquents. Thi s male bias extends to other State

resources - lock--up courts, police vans etc. With respect to young girls the

problem has always S(H~m(~d too hard. They should not be locked up, but they

are out their self-destructing. Department of Community Welfare has now changed its. priori ties. Young offender's have been put fr'om the top of the

priority list to number 4.

"adolescents at risk". Placed over them is a new focus called

The Depar'tment of Community Welfare is currently looking at the whole concept

of 'adolescents at risk'. Our people are fr'ustrated with working wi.th young

people on drugs. We are very concerned about the teenage mother who because

of poverty and lack of skills misses out on adolescence, and when she tries to

explore adolescence she is then accussed of poor mothering.

examples' of adolescents at risk. These ar'e

When considering 'adolescents at risk'

DepartmEmt of Community Welfare is not

community there are families, neighbours,

whole network of neighbourhood support.

it must be

always there

youthworkers,

For some kids

acknowledged that the

to intervene. In the

churches - there is a

it's unavailable. It is the Departments responsibility to try the neighbourhood support network

befoF'e the welfar'e solution, so anything we do will be a collective response.

Young offenders are often sent back to the community without adequate support. Because of their conflict of values with some of the regular

structures for youth, they fall outside of the main str'eam. An example is

Youth Recr'eation services which are· usually available to well behaved young people.

Kids that are acting out fall aren't serviced by the regular

recreational or social facilities because they keep getting thrown out.

I recEmtly had an intE~resting discussion with ethnic youth workers about the

pr'oblems faced by youth from other cu I tures. It seems that many ·young people

themselves are quite racist when interacting with kids from other cultures.

The Department has had to confront the multicultural issue head on. We

prOvide a service mainly for the white anglo sax on person. Many cultures fepl

left out. Oft(~n it's because of the nature of our staffing. If the

Department is to bp rplevant to the children of other cultures we must change the natUl"e of our stc\ff by recruiting significant numb(~rs of people fr'om I other culture,. I think the challenge is not just for Department of Community

Welfare but for all ser:vice organizations.

~

I .!l

/,11 , ,If i ,

, i I I

"

I I

I

_. 23 _.

Raci st attitudes toward Aboriginal people also needs to be confronted. One

might think the Welfare Department would be sensitive to cultural differences

and the problems of Aboriginal people. I'm sure that young Aboriginal people

don't get the sort of deal from us that they should. Certainly the Aboriginal

advocates inside of the Department tell us that that's so and they're asking

us to shift many aspe~ts of our work.

As I have illustrated, many young people are not serviced by existing

structures. During IYY we have seen that focusing on "adolescents in crisis"

potentially has a mass ive impact on the bureaucracy.

The Welfare Department has no policy for disabled adolescents, for emotionally

disturb(~d adolescents. We always think someone else is servicing them. In

this State, Ian Cox is working very hard at co-ordinating between Government

agencies. It would appea~ that one of the great challenges is for agencies to

work together to develop policies and processes that deal with the young

people that aren1t currently catered for adequately.


I I I I I I I

.... 24 _ ...

eR.L~~J~!~If.~JL .. _~J._ ... J~1R . .:._ ..... f.!Y:W~ ........ f!J:).~_LJ~J;'!~!IQ!L ..... RJ;.~_~.~.R~~H .... J:.ELJ:.9.~ .. I.. ......... ~N'§!'Il:.I.~.l~_ .. QE ....... J.f.!t1~.h: .. Y..

STUDIES . ............. _ ................. _-

Much of the businl~ss of young pl~oph' involves making dE~cisions about th(;~:i.r

futl.ln~. Such d{~cisions must relate to the extent and typ~~ of (~ducation they.

pnd'(;~I", what tyP(;~ of' wOI"k to undeY'tak(~ and UH~ natun~ of lilling aYTjXng(;~nHmt

that best suits them. ~one of' these decisions are made in isolation from each

other and all are taken in the context of numerous personal and social

influences. Cun'ent.ly that context to be I contr'adictory trends.

appears chal"acteri sed by qlJ it(~ Two groups of influential forc{~s are fir'stly, Uw

I I I I I I I I I I I

po 1. i c i e sand pY'ogr-<;lms of governments, and secondly the social and

psychological factors which determine personal pr'ef(;~nmces and behalliour.

Again, the two o\l"e inextricably linked, either one s igni ficantly influencing

the other. It is the conflict currently inherent between these two groups of

fOI"c~~s that produces for many young f,Hwple gn~at uncertainty, lack of purpose

and direction, and, for some, a sense of hopelessness.

GOllernnwnt policies and programs that in par't dl~termine the choices open to

YOlmg people ay'e almost universally in a state of flux. Nevertheless it is a

basic characteristic of such policies that the dependent status of youth is to

b(~ pl"olonged. In the ay'eas whel"e E~ducation and employment intersect UH~re

have been significant fluctuations in dinH:tion over thE-) past decade. FI"om

the r-<~pid expansion of education in the 1960's there was a panicky, uncertain

and faltlH'in~l appr'oach in thE~ 19'70' s which focuss(;~d on labour miu'ket

stl"ategi.E~s to deal with I"apidly incn~as:i.ng unemployment. Wi th the a(hlEHlt of

the current Labour GOllernment there was a marked lurch back to education as a

solution to the pr'obl~~ms id{mtif'iE~d as I"<~sulting f'r'om fundamental stl"uchJr'al

ChangE~S in the economy and thl' labouy' mal"k'~t. So PEP Wi;lS bOI"n and the Offic~' of Youth Affairs moved from the Department of Employment to that of

Education. Not much later, at the beginning of this year the OYA was brought

baCk to the bosom of the Pr'ime Min:i .. stE~Y" s Depar'tment fl"om whence it had been

uncerenmniously cast out in 1977.

Perha~s now the path to be charted is to be somewhere halfway between labour

nlal"k~~t and ,~ducation solutions. Sun~ ~~n()ugh PEP has I:HH~n cut back and we now

have Kirby, a hybrid of some work, some study and some pay.

-.. 25 -

While the traineeship scheme will pr'ovide some welcome improvements to the

opportuni ties avai labl.e to early school leavers it wi 11 not enable them to

compete wi th those who complete for'mally recogni sed quali fications, such as

diplomas, certificates or apprenticeships. With only 13 weeks of tr'aining

within the year of the traineeship all that might 'be achieved would be to

improve the chancE:~s of trainees against other unsk i lIed, perhaps older,

workers. As the minimum rate of pay wi 11 be S(,!t at $90 per week, which wi 11

be nwch higher than the new rates of UB, SAS and TEAS, new incentives might be

generated to attract 16 and 17 year-olds out of secondary education who would

otherwise have continued. There is already some speculation that such more

highly motivated youth wou'ld prove more attractive to employers than

traditional early leavers so fr'ustrating their chances of improved job prospects.

It is possibly the area of income support policies that has caused the

Government the most difficulty. The Kil"by training wage proposals are but one

of a number of options Cabinet has had to grapple with all this year. 1985

began on a confident note with Mini sters such as Mr. Dawk ins and Senator

Button blithely assuring us that the mor'ass of payments would be rationalised,

simpli fied and incentives to become unemployed eradicated.

The 1985-86 Budget brought down on August 20, 1985 contained the fruits of

that labour and signalled extensive changes to the current income SUppor't system.

In summary the major changes are as follows:

education allowances and unemployment benefi ts an~ to be paid on an

age-··related basis rather than an activity basis. For education allowancE:~s this involves two scales - for 16-17 year-oIds and for those over 18. for

unemployed blmeficiaries a new, intermediate stage has been created so

that there will be different payments for 16-17 year--olds, 18-20 year-olds

and those over 21. For 16-17 year-olds payments for secondary and

tertiary education allowances and for UB wi 11 be identical by 1988. For

those over 18 the only identical .rates will be for 18-20 year-olds

unemployed and away fr'om home ter'tiar'y stUdents over 18. Unti I' 1989

secondary payments will be less than tertiary ones which will be less than

UB, When secondary and tertiary rates will come together.


I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

-- 26 -

education payments will be increased over the next three years at a faster

rate than UB, thus enabling the rates to be equivalent by 1988 for 16-17

year olds. This means fQr unemployed 16-17 year--olds that their benefit

will be frozen in 1987 and for 18-20 year olds, increases will be less for

the um~mployed than for students and for those unemployed aged 21 and over;

for the first time extra costs associated with indep~ndent living will be

r'ecognised for the unemployed and for secondary students. For 18-20

year--old unemployed youth a $10 rent allowance wi 11 be payable from May

1986 if they have been on benefits for 6 months and rent in the private

sector away fr'om parents. From 1987 secondary students over 16 and UB

recipients 16-17 will also be eligible for the away fr'om home TEAS rate if

they are unsupported by fami lies. How thi s is to be determined has not

been worked out as yet but the papers urge, with a stern tone, that it

will be under 'strict conditions'. As there is no indication that 'away

fr'om home TEAS eligibility is to be changed to exclude a parental income

test, it is unclear whether this recognition of lack of support will be

extended to tertiary students; and

once rates are brought into the relationships desired, by 1988, they wi II

be indexed and incr'eased yearly.

Other interesting aspects of the changes are that secondary education payments

will be paid to the principle caregiver (usually the mother) but with the

option of them going to the student. This is because family allowances wi II

be subsumed so that what looks like an $11.95 increase in SAS from 1985 to

1986 is in fact an increase of about $6.00. The extent to which the payment

is transferred to the child wi 11 depend upon the employment status of the

mother as the amount will be taxable in the hands of the recipient.

T~AS payments wi 11 also be taxable which means that whi le TEAS students are

allowed an income fr'ee zone of $40.00 a week before losing payments, after

$11.00 a week they will be eligible for tax. unless the pensioner/beneficiary

rebates are applied of which there is no mention in the Budget papers.

-- 27 -

The current system and the new arrangements are worthy of closer examination,

especially the underpinning assumptions regarding - the dependent status of

youth. Firstly, we know that the under 18 UB rate, to now be $50 for all

recipients, is not ser'ious ly regarded as an adequate amount upon which to li ve

but merely to supplement the assistance parents are assumed to provide to

unemployed 16 and 17 year-olds. Fifteen years old must now be presumed to be

totally supportable by families as they will no longer be -eligible for

educational allowances as some now are. It 'is not surprising that the junior

UB is not regarded as a living allowance as it is $84.40 under the March 1985

Henderson poverty line of $134.40 per week. Even those eligiple for the new

unsupported rate of $73.28 in 1987 will be well under such measures.

Nevertheless, UB is only income tested on the individual and not on the

parents income although that was one of the proposal s suggested earlier by Mr. Dawkins.

Education allowances for secondary and post-secondary students

are income tested on parents income, the assumption being that parents

'automatically support their chi ldren if they have the income to do so. lEAS

payments are alsci income tested on the individual although an amount of $40

per week is allowed in part-time earnings. Again, officials do not pret(~nd that TEAS payments are a sufficient living allowance but a supplement to

either parental support or part-time earnings.

Another payment which recogni ses dependence on the fami ly is the Family

Allowance. Until the May 1985 mini--budget Family Allowance was payable until

age 24 if the dependent was a full-time student. This policy at least

recognised that families do incur costs when supporting young people who have

little or no income. However even this level of recognition was abolished in

May for those over 18 except for low income families. In the future this too

may change and be incol"porated into incr'eased TEAS payments. The presumption

uf dependence wi 11 then be compl~!te for ov(~r 18 year---o Id fu ll-time students in the middle income families.

With the introduction of an intermediate rate of UB for 18-20 year-olds the

gOvernment appears to be yet again assuming that some support will be

forthcoming from fami lies for these young people, that wi 11 not be prov ided once the age of 21 has been passed.


I I

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-- 28 -

For tertiary students the presumption of at least partial dependence is

maintained beyond 21 under the new arrangements. Whereas those unemployed who

are over 21 are implicitly regarded as not in receipt of any family assistance

it is not until age 24 that students aY'E:~ regarded as fully independent on the basis of age.

Consider the situation when young people are not, suppor'ted by families. For

the young urH~mploy(~d the situation is grim indeed. We know that those who

leave school at an early age are most likely to leave home early. Institute

of Family Studies (IFS) research shows that in Sydney and Melbourne the single

share of the rent of a 3 or 4 bedroom residence amounts to over 100 per cent

of income. It is therefore no sur'pri se to find so many young unemployed

seeking emergency accommodation. The number of under 18 unemployed not living

with families was approximately 10,000 in 1981.

The situation for unsupported students or would-be students is even more

drastic. At post-secondary level students may apply for an away fr'om home

rate of TEAS or an independent rate. The amount is the same in each case.

currently at $68.67 per week, to be increased in 1986 to $73.2~ for all and to

be $73.28 for 16-17 year-olds and $80.00 for those over 1.8 in 1988. However

to receive the independent payment a young person under 25 has to be married,

have had a child in a defacto relationship, have been a ward of State or have

been in the labour force for a total of two years in the previous five, to be

three in 1.986. If they can satisfy one of these criteria they are income

tested as an individual. If not, they can apply for the away f'r'om home rate

which is payable if they cannot stay at home for reasons of di stance or

because domestic circumstances prevent it. Only 5 per cent receive this

payme'1t for reasons of adverse home conditions. In order to establi sh such a

claim a young person must obtain the following:-

two depositions from independent observers such as ministers of religion. police or social workers;

statements fr'om par'ents that thpy wi 11 not or can not suppoJ:'t their chi Id; and

details of parents income.'

-.. 29 -

Thi s 1a~t I"equin~m{mt ari ses because students wi 11 sti 11 be income test(~d on

their parents income even though they may receive no support from them. It is

r'eport~~d that par'ents 'often refuse to provide either details of income or

dec1ar'ations of family breakdown or both. Often no outs ide observers ar'e

awan~ of the circumstances of the youth's family situation and in any case

there is widespread resentment of the 'necessity to supply such personal infor'mation.

For secondary students the requirements are similar involving the provision of

independent depositions regarding family breakdown al'though there is no

requirement for a parental income test. However to obtain the Secondary

Allowance (SAS) payment in their own right unsupported students must be in

Year' 11 or 12 and must have access to $1,800 per annum. This produces an

absurd situation for young people attempting to prove that they need

assistance. Those who can prove they at least partly do not need help are

ass i sted, yet those who can only prove they have nothing are ineligible for

any help at an. Currently the combined amount of SAS at $23 and the $1, BOO

per annum is a minimum of $55 per week sti 11 nearly $80 below the pover.ty

line. It is unclear whether these ar-rangements will continue as a result of

the changes announced on August 20. If the conditions remained unchanged the

new rate in 1986 !-IIould be $67.00 although it seems likely that this will not

be the case as unsupported secondary students will be eligible for the away

from home rate of TEAS, to be $73.28 per week in 1986. While the $1,800 per

annum condition might be abolished the government has said it 'has yet to

determine the detailed conditions that will apply'.

In 1983 there wer'e only 397 students independently receiving SAS while IFS

estimates of the numbers of unsupported secondary students at the time of the

1981 Census was about 5,000. The b~~st option for young people such as these

is to leave school, become unemployed for' at least four months and then apply

for a Tr'ansition Allowance. This amounts to UB plus $6.00, currently a total

of $51.00. However unlike TEAS there are not parental means tests and unlike

SAS th(~re is no r'equirement for savings or ear'nings. The only catch is thcl.t

the aver'age par'ticipant has actually b{~EHl unemployed for about eight months

and there are twice as many applicants as places. Consequent1y, unsupported

I I I I

I I -, 30 -

youth wishing to complete an education are almost forced to serve an

I apprenticeship of unemployment unti I a),lowed back into the education and

tr'aining system and then only at pitifully low rates of suppor't that ar'e

I paradoxically predicated on the basis that their families will support them.

I I This discussion has gone on at length to demonstrate that income support

payments for young people a;"e bas{~d on the presumption of dependance on

families. To this policy base is to be added a concrete effort to increase

I the period of dependence of young people by encour'aging more of them to r'emain

I I I I I I I I I I I I

in the education and training systems. The government has recently received

several repor'ts all advocating increased participation in education.

The OEeD review of youth policies, the Office of Youth Affairs/Social Welfare

Pol icy Secretariat r'epor't on income suppor't for young people, the Kirby repor't

on labour market programs, the Karmel report on quality of education, and in

the States numerous reviews of education such as Blackbur'n in Victoria,

Swan/McKinnon in NSW, Beasley in W.A. and Steinle in the ACT, all advocate increa'sed education participation.

There are two very good reasons for such recommendations. Firstly, changed labour market conditions have reduced

employment opportunities especially for the very young and the workforce of.

the future will require greater flexibility and 'a higher degree of skill.

Secondly, those'who are most affected by such changes predominantly come from

disadvantaged backgr'ounds and such disadvantage will be perpetuated' unless

there can be a break in the cycle of poor education leading to marginal status

in the workforce, and low incomes. The consequences of an objective to

prolong the stage of life devoted to education and tr'aining however, is to

prolong the dependence of young people either on their families or on

gOvernment programs of income support.

Ihe fact that lar'ge number's of young people who leave school early come from

low socio-economic groups has, generated two main explanations. The first is

that low income gr'oups cannot afford the costs of fur'ther education and that

el ther wages or UB are more attracti ve as they wi 11 contribute to family

-- 31 --

income, The second theor'y relates to the low value plac(~d on education by

such gr'oups, Experience of schools pr'imarily designed to sort out those most

sui ted to tertiary study has been alienating and irrelevant for many people

from low socio-educational backgrounds and consequently no return is envisaged

from continued investment in education, r

As such this is a socio-educational argumE.mt more than a socio--economic one, There have been two policy responses

to these arguments, The first response focuses on income Suppor't for low

income families to offset the cost of education, Consequently schemes such as

SAS and TEAS are strictly targett0.d on low income groups, The second response

is reflected in Kirby, Blackburn, etc, that the nature and offerings of

post--compulsory schooling must change to be mor'e attractive to those who have previously rejected it,

There is now research evidence to suggest that both approaches have an

impact, Financial factors do partly influence the decision to stay at school

of young people and changes to curriculum offerings which emphasise br'oader,

more flex ible and more re levant courses have increased partic ipation, The

rapid increase in demand for TAFE places is partly evidence for this,

.f.~tors influen<:.i!1g lect'!..ing home pa1:.1~r.Q_~

Howev{;~r there ar'e reasons other than socio-economic background or the nature

of the systems as to why young people leave school early and take their

chances in the world of work, The conflict faced by government policies which

both presume dependence and aim to, prolong it, is inherent in the trends which

show that more under 18 year-olds now either desire greater independence or

have it thrust upon them than in previous times, IFS research into the

reasons for first leaving home, show that for those who first left home younger

than 18, the des ire to be independ~!nt and fami ly conflict are far mor'e

impor'tant reasons than they were only a decade ago, For young females reasons

of independence have increased by a factor of three to be the most important

reason, while for males conflict has increased by a factor of five, Reasons

to do with mar-riage have fallen by two-thir'ds for females, while reasons to do

with finding work have been reduced for both males and females reflecting the

more restricted job environment characteristic of the current period,



-- 32 -

Ear'ly school leaver's tend to leave home at earli~~r ages, especially if they

become unemployed, despite the obvious financial difficulties that thi s is

certain to generate. A pattern is ironically more common among those who first leave for reasons of conflict, and to' be independent. Financial and personal difficulties are the most common reasons for going back home and so a

nasty cycle is established characterised by conflict and precarious living

circumstances. Our research has also begun to show that families affected by

unemployment or other economic stress ar'e more likely to break down while

overs~~as data shows that divof'ce rates are highest among t~e unemployed. So

individuals themselves are not necessarily to blame as economic and social

conditions have an 'important part to play in affecting the stability of fami lies.

Prolonged Dependence vs Desire for Indep~nden~.

These then are two countervailing trends, a greater period of dependence for

more young people at a time when there appears to be a desire for greater

independence for some and the stark reality of it for others. In developing

policies to cope with this situation a number of fundamental issues are involved,

There is the issue of equity should students who will benefit in future from

education and who benefit now fr'om huge investment in schools, colleges and

universi ties, receive the same support as the unemployed? Should students

from low income families be denied the chance to avail themselves of the

opportunities normally enjoyed by better off groups? Should those who are

suppof'ted by their families receive similar treatment to those who are not?

Ther'e is the issue of incentives and there is the issue of dependence. are intertwined.

All

IF young people are to be encouraged to stc~y in education and tr'aining many

will need more incentives to do so than the promise of later returns, and this

may have to involve them being accorded a higher degree of independent status

than has been traditional. This situation has obviously been recognised as

indicated by the m~w arrangements. CUrl"'ently there ar'e numerous incentives

-'" 33 _.

not to stay in education. As discussed earlier UB is m~ch easier to qualify

for than TEAS or SAS. If on UB there is an incentive not to work part-time

because of significant loss of benefit. Ther'e is an incenti,ve to postpone

further study for two years. post:-"school so as to qualify for independent TEAS. Consequently education allowances that are paid' at higher rates and

recogni se independent status might neutrali se such incentives.

It is clear .from the behaviour of young people that they have a clear

preference to obtain an independent soutce of income. Examination of the 1981

Census shows that about 40 per cent of 16 year·-olds and 58 per cent of 17

year-·olds in two parent families derived an income fr'om wages, including 18.5

per cent of 16 year-olds and 21.5 per cent of 17 year-Holds who were studying

full or part-time as wel1. For those not living with families the incentive

to derive an income is more starkly evident. Those working full or part-time comprised just over 50 per cent of 16 year-olds and 67 per cent of 17 year--olds. The differences between this category of youth and those living with their families were that only 16 per cent of 16 year-olds and about 12 per cent of 17 year-Holds were studying as well as working while 17.3 per cent of both 16 and 17 year-·olds were unemployed compared with 4.1 per cent of 16

year-olds and 7.9 per cent of 17 year·-olds in two parent families.

PoIJ£.L Approaches

There is probably not a great deal of disagreement among 'policy makers with

the two basic propositions that an education' or training allowance should be

avai lable at least to low income groups and that those without family support

should receive some for'm of living away from home allowance. The great

dilemma is how to limit the cost of such proposals and administer them fairly

without intr'uding too far into personal areas. Parental income testing is

probably the most appropriate way to target assistance to young people but is

inappropriate as young people get older and when they are clearly not

sUpported by thei r parents. The curr'ent stringent tests associated with SAS

and TEAS ii\l~e inappropriate and shou Id probably be eased although thi s wi 11

almost certainly increase the incidence of families well able to support their

Offspring taking advantage of an easier system of support. The difficulties

aSSOCiated with developini suitable eligibility tests are perhaps reflected in

the Budget paper's confession that detailed conditions are yet to be


I I

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

_. 34 -...

det<~r'mined. As to differentials betw(!en UB and education allowances it is not

necessarily the case that a rate of UB higher than that for education

allowance will prOVQ a more attractive option topotentiai students. Under

the new arrangements, once all the new rates are in their desired relationship

by 19B9, TEAS will be lower than UB for at home over 1B year·-olds and all

students over 21. Only for 16--17 and lB-20 year--old unemployed youth ar.'e the

rates of UB the same as education allowances and th(:m only for away-from.-home

students in the latter group .. If then;~ were more suitable medium and long

term accommodation options available and some of the changes in educational

structures discussed earlier became mor'e widespread, - lower rates of income

support might not be an issue for students. This is especially important for

young people at around school leaving. age which research has shown is a

particularly critical period for decision making.

Some of the changes announced in' the 19B5-86 Budget a're welcome modifications

as they go some way to:

improving th~ employability of some disadvantaged yo~th;

recognising increased independence as age increases;

reduciD9 incentives'to become unemployed; and

assisting the unsupported.

However, these are still measures which could be considered to more fully

achieve such goals. For example:

automatic payment of education allowances direct to students.

par'ental income testing on educational allowances to affect 100 per cent

of at payments age 15 and be progressively reduced to zero at age 21 for

those living at home;

personal income test to increase from zero at age 15 and increase to 100

per cent at age 21 for those living at home;

a reasonable income free zone to apply to allow part-time earnings;

- 35 -

a living away fr'om home allowance for those not able to live at home,

aS,sessed, by deposition from responsible agents and to be income tested on

the individual alone;

increased rates of junior UB incor'porating an away fr'om home rate, Such

r'ates may be higher than educational allowances;

greater provision of a range of suitable medium and long term

accommodation options for young people; and

continued development of more flexible and relevant educational and

training offerings,

~9s~~script on youth wage proposals

This post-script merely raises some questions to be addressed in the light of

proposals to reduce youth wages in or'der to improve employment opportunities for young people:

would reducing the differential between award wages and both US and

education allowances increase incentives to not work?

would greater competition from juniors disadvantage other family members

in the labour market, particularly women upon whose income many families

rely to stay out of poverty?

would reduced award wages increase the numbers of youth living at the

margins of poverty, as in 1982 the "man income for wage earners aged 16--17

was $126 per week, which was unly $25 above the poverty line and only 39

per cent of average weekly earnings?

would such a reduction of the capacity of employed youth to pay their way

place a greater burden on fami lies, lead to an increase in conflict and

increase family breakdown?

I I I I I I I I I I I I I

:1 :1

I [I :1 f

,I

III

I -------- -

---~=~=~----=----.-.--- .... -

..... 36 -..

PI~ESENTATION BY MS. RUrH DOOBOV AC'rING BRANCH HEAD, COMMONWEALTH EDUCATION .. "" ................ --............ "-... "."-"-,,-..... ,, ... ,,.,,-.. ,, .... - ........ " .... " .... --..... ".-... --""."" ... _ .... J_ ..... _ .... "" .. " ......... _ .... "" ..... ""._.""" .. "" ... "." ... _".".""" .. " ...... " .... " ...... "."" ... _." .... "_"."." .. """_" .... "_ ... " ... ,, .. ,,",, ... ,,"_,, ....... " ...... .

'rhp availabi li ty of adequate i ncoml~ suppor't is a fundc'IlH~ntal aspect of Uw

ach:i.ellem(mt of ind(~pendence by young I:Hwple. Howev(~I~ much they may aspil"(~ to

:i.ndE~FH:mdpnce, if Uwy don't have i;td~:'quab~ inCOnH? suppor't for' this PIU'POSE?,

they an~ essentially ndiant upon UHdr pan~nts. FOI~ young people in the

wOI"kf()rc(,~ incomE.~ suppor't :I. s not a F)I"oblem, but fOI" young pEwple who an:~ unemployed or students, and particularly for students, the issue is a compe 11 i ng onl~.

It was r'l~cE:mtly 1"ep()I"tl~d in the pn~ss that Feder'al Cabinet had spent m()l"(~ hour's 'debatin~3 the issue of YOIJth income suppor't than they had sp(~nt on

taxation r'eform and I think ·the n~port was pr'obably cor-r-ect. Meanwhile,

felH~rish activity has been going on in sections of the bureaucracy pr'oltiding

mountains of back~F'olmd papers, options papers, reports, submi ss ions and the like.

I· myself have been involved in Inter-Depar'tmental Committees on th~~ issue undE?r' governmEmts of both political complE?xions going back as far' as

1980. Th(H'e are (~ssentiaJ.J.y thr'ee fairly intractible problems in the al"{~a uf

youth incomE? support which halle fonnpd the nub of the d(-)bate which has takE?n

up so much time and effort: These are _

a widespread fpeling in the community that the patt;prn of financial

inc(~ntil/es fOl~ young people encol.lI"aged unemploYIMnt as an option I"ath~':!r' than fUI,.thE:~r' E?dl.lcation but at· t;low samE:' tillw thl~ I"{~c()gni tion that c~s a

gene~llisation the unemployed represented those young people in the

community who werp nwst vulnerable and ~ost in nped of support.

a COI'lCenl that tl'wn~ an~ 37 cl :i. fh~nmt paYIlHmts avai lable to young p(wpl(~

conditions. confl icting and comph)x E.~ligibil:i.t:y

Oblliously sOl1le of tl'H~se payments (e.g. irlllalid p(~nsion, sllpp(wting pal"l'l'lts benl~fit) apply to only a small gl"oup of young peoplE~ wi th special n0.(~ds and th~~se will pr'obably r(,~l1lain in the same fonn no

matter' what chanqE~s tal<l~ place. I\lonptheless, it was cll~ar-ly felt that thl~ .

d ifficlJl t task of att(~mptil'lg to I"ationali se the mainstn~am allowances to

make them more consistent and l1lorp accessible should be attempted.

, . I . I.

_. 37 -

a situation of stnlrlg Budgetary constraint by the Government which meant

that large sums of money wer'e not available to assi st in the

nationalisation process. It is much easier to achieve agreement about

what should be done if it is possible to bring all. allowances up to the

lel/el of the highest r'ather than if sacd fice·s have to be made in some

areas in order to achieve improvements in others,

It has been against this background that the re·-organisation of youth income

support announced in the Federal Budget has taken pl~ce.

The issue of improving the options available to young people in Australia has

beEm seen as urgent in recent times for 3 main reasons.

1. There has becm a shar'p decline in th~ demand for teenage labour over the

past decade. Full-·time jobs available to 15-17 year olds fell by a

quarter between 1981 and 1984 and the younger the j ob seeker the more

devastating the decline. There is unlikely to be major reversal in the

trend away from full-time job oppor'tunities for teenagers.

2. The likelihood of becoming and remaining unemployed is significantly

higher among young people who do not complete Y{~ar 12. A recent ABS

survey showed that. of those contacted within 12 months of leaving school

and who were in the labour force. the unemployment r'ate was 23% for those

who d id not complete Year 12 but 12% for those who did. The Bureau of

Labour Market Resources in the fir'st phase of its longitudinal study of

the young unemployed. has found that higher lel/els of education are

associated wi th shor'ter durations of unempl~yment and that there is a

fairly strong impact by education on labour market experience.

3. Young people excluded from education and work and who become welfare

clients at an early. age are likely to become long term dependents on the

wel fare system. Thi s perpetuates pover·ty from one generation to another

because of the relationship between schooling. unemployment and poverty.

As I have alr'eady mentioned. it is widely considered that the comparative

levels of education allowances and UB have been a disincentive to educational

partiCipation by young people. A I~eview Team sent by the OEeD to examine

I I I I

,·1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 1 I


- 38 _.

Austr'alia IS arr'angements for young people repor'ted la~t y(~ar that they

regarded this disincentive effect to be so important that the Australian

Government ought to make stud(·mt allowance rates higher than unemployment

benefi ts and in order to P()SitiIlE~ly encourage students to under'take

education rather than remain unemployed. This problem of disincentive

2ffects is of relatively recent odgin. At the bE:~ginning of 1972, for

example, the situation was completely different. The maximum level of

living allowance al/aUable under the Commonwealth Scholarships Scheme (the

main form of assistance provided to tertiary students by the Commonwealth

Government) was $21.15 a week. The most widespread form of assistance for

tertiary students at the time were State Government teachers scholarships,

which offered allowances from 30% to 300% higher than Commonwealth

Scholarships. The wages of a fir'st year apprentice fitter in 1972 were

$22.64 a week. UB was $10 a week for adults, $6 a week for those aged

18--20 and $4.50 for 16-17 year olds. Relativities with UB were largely

irrelevant in any case, since so few were unemployed. By the late

seventies the situation was entirely different: junior wage rates had

increased ,very substantially in real terms (it can be argued that the

increase in youth wages which took place in the mid-seventies was an

important contributing factor to the social changes which have led young

people being much more independent of their parents than they were 15

years ago). Unempioyment benefit had also increased substantially and

provided the sole income support of thousands of young people, and student

allowances, going against the trend, were declining in real value so that

in relative terms they had lost ground enormously. It was in this

situation that the need began to be felt to redress the imbalance so that

young people were not offered such substantial incentives to be unemployed

rather than in full-time education. In the discussions that followed four

main points emel~ged as the generally agreed ingredients which should go

into a reformed youth income support structure. They were:

1. ArrangE~ments should be such that no young person who wishes to participate

in education or ti"8d.ning is pY'E:~venh~d fr'om doing so for financial reasons.

2. Rates and conditions of financial support should not discriminate in

favour of any particular type or level of education or training or other

activity. (e.g. job search) In practical ter'ms this means raising the

level of financial assistance available to eligible students to at least

the level of unemployment benefit.

- 39 -.

3. A reformed sch(~me of income suppor't should ensl:'l"e that young people in

gr'eatl~st nel~d, such as those without parental support, are adequately

prov ided for,

4. There should bE~ an increase in the range of education and tr'aining opportunities so that income suppor't for the young unemployed becomes largely redundant in the longer term.

The Government I s new system of youth income support has set out to addr'ess

these generally agreed upon but optomistic goals, As you will no doubt be

aware the Government has announced extensive changes to youth income suppor't

arrangements to be phased in over a period up to 1989, The program

essentially comprises a revised systom of unemployment benefits involving cln

intermediate r~te for single people aged 18-20, This will be achieved by holding back on indexation increases over the next 3 years and at the same

time giving the adult rate of UB adhoc increases over and above indexation,

As a compensation for this rent allowance will be extended to the young

unemployed who have been unemployed longer than 6 months. Hence, the very

neediest group of young unemployed' wi 11 find themsel\,es better off. There

will be some cutting back of allowances for those young people who 'are in a

position to be living with parents. There will be an integrated age-related

system of education allowances which achieve some commonal i ty of rates with

unemployment benefits. The existing schemes known as the Ter'tiary Education

Assistance Scheme (TEAS), Secondary Allowances Scheme (SAS) and the Adult

Secondary Education Assistance Scheme

testing on parental income will, however,

(ASEAS) will be absorbed. Income

remain for students. While students

may not be happy with this distinction betw{~en them and the unemployed, the

Government was undoubtedly influenced by the fact that it would cost of the

or'der of $500m to provide allowances without parental income test for students

aged 18 and over and considerably more if the age were dropped to 16. It was

cons idel"{~d that the priori ty was to prov ide improved allowances for students

from low-.. incoml~ fami lies (1 wi 11 rehll"n later to the situation of students

Whose fami lies Illay not be low·-income but who are not able to obtain suppor't

from their families),


I I I I I I I I I 1 I

-. 40 -

Wh('!n the phasing .. · .. in of the new income sl.lppor't ar-ranqHments is complete in

1989, the following arrangements will be in place:

A common rate of ~llowance for 16 and 17 year olds whether in secondary ur

tertiary education or unemployed. Thi s rate wi II bE:) fu 11y indexed for CPI

movements. (A higher living away fr'om home rate will continue to be

payable to ,tertiary students where appropriate).

A common r'ate for unemployed 18 to 20 y~!ar olds and ter'tiary students aged

18 and over who are independent or who live away fr'om home. Both rates

will be fully indexed to CPI movements.

A common rate for secondary students aged 18 and over and for ter'tiary

students living at home. The real value tif this rate will be maintained

by setting it at 63% of the rate for over 18 away from home/independent

tertiary students and intermediate rate unemployment benefit.

These arrangements wi 11 largely although not completely be in place by 1988.

In 1987 the age related structure of Hducation allowances will be introduced

but without ali.grH:~d rates between UB and student allowances. In 1986 somH

preliminary steps wi 11 be taken towal"'ds the restructuring and rates of student

1 allowances will be increased but no major alterations will take place in that y~~ar .

I 1 .1 I I I 1

As par't of the package, the Government has bE!en considering also the situation

of certain groups of young people who ar'e likely to suffer par'ticular

hal~dships if they do not have support fr'om their par'ents - those under 16,

stUdents who are receiving no allowance or a partial allowance because of the

test on parental income, and both the unemployed and students who are

receiving 16 .. -17 yc'ar old rates. Cur-r('Hltly students may be gr'anted what is

known as independent status under TEAS and ASEAS if they meet certain tightly

defined conditions- being .mal~ried, or if in a de·--facto relationship with a

chi lel, an orphan 01'" ward, aged 25 or' over or have had two years work force

participation ._- and in this case they are not requir'ed to m~H!t a parental

incomE~ test. You will notice, however, that there is cUI"-rently no provision

For stUdents whose pan·mts could, but will not, suppor't them. In addition

- 41 -

thl~re ar'e other groups •. notably those under 16. to whom a.n ex tens ion of

independent status or a similar arrangement could not apply because their age

exc ludes them fr'om e ligibi li ty for a.n allowance. The Government proposes to

make arrangements to cover the gr'oups of unsupported young people I have

mentioned either itself or through negotiation with the States but is not yet

sufficiently far advanced with its proposals to make an announcement at this

stage, ,A very recent development. following a decision by the Administration

Appeals Tribunal a few weeks ago. the Department of Social Securities' special

benefit will now be available to some young people in education under special

circumstances, The Department of Social Services has previously refused to

pay special benef i t to anyone in education. They're now prepar'ed to re lC\x

this rule to some extent although guidelines are still being established.


I I I I I I I I I I I

-.. 42 _.

I FAMILY PROCESSES AI\ID YOUTH SUCCESS AT SCHOOL' . ....... _ ••••• N ............................... __ ._ ...... _ ........ _ .............. __ ....... _ ... __ ..... _ ..... _ .... __ ._._ ...... , ................ _ •• _ ....... , ••• """_"'''''' __

I will be speaking on the development of competence in particular looking at

family processes. I wi 11 be referring to a study by the Institute of Family

Studies which looked at children's vi.ew of family life, concentrating on the

adolescents who took -part. The theory of competence is central to the study.

(See Figure l,page 8) The social distribution of competence is due partly to

economic factors and fami ly background, partly to education of parents and

occupational status of fathers, partly to. cultural processes (values etc) I

want to focus on the'family as mediator in the development of competence.

Competence splits into 2 parts:

1. Equipment for competen~e: developing the skills and abilities to take care

'of yourself in our society.

2, The competent self: feeling able to master the environment, feelings of

competence.

I However, when it comes to the skills and abilities necessary for competence

I I I I I I

there are difficulties as certain fonns of competence are more highly valued

than others in our culture, In most western societies, forms of competence

involving language ability, intelligence, social skills, h~adership, business

acumen and sport, ar'e more highly valued than forms of competence involving

manual sk i lis, child care, nurturance, domestic labour or physical strength.

Many of the sk ills of competence that women have tr'ad i tionally had ar'e not

highly valued, as ar'e the skills of Cl working class man. Individuals who

POSsess valued forms of competence are more likely to succeed and to achieve

the materi.al and social rewards whi.ch society dispenses to the successful.

Fami lie's where the par'ents ar'e well educCilted and have an adequate income ar'e

mOre likely to provide their children with the opportunity to develop valued

Skills than are the poor, the less educated and those from some ethnic l11inori ties.

Some fami lies may ini tially enable their children to feel competent and efficaCious

self-imag e, in their own homes and social groups and to have a positive

but within the school and the broader society the individual

_ .. ' 43 -.

may not have develop{~d skills which ar'e valued. For example Some childr'en 1ll00Y

live in a loving family but have little opportunity for contact with books or

print materials and hence have difficulty with literacy when they go to

school. Literacy is valued in our society and it is essential that it is l(~ar'nt .

Another factor which interacts with the development of competence is age. The

pan:mt child relationship becomes more complex at adolescence. One way of

looking at the changes in family relationships is in terms' of available resources and power.

At adolescence there are major changes in the distribution of resources and hence power.

The adolescent suddenly grows tall, sometimes taller than the parents, and no longer is it easy to use

physical means of discipline. Many for'ms of discipline become irrelevant at adolescence.

The child also develops the capacity to r'eflect and think in more abstract ways.

Some adolescents achieve an educational level which surpasses that of their parents.

The peer group and friend s prov id{! a personal resource for the adolescent outside the home and part-time jobs often

provide an economic r'esource which fr'ees them from total economic dependence on parents.

At this stage the parent has lost many of the resources for power and control

which existed when the child was younger. Unfortunately, many parents try to

retain the same control they had ear'lier' and ine~i tably conflict occurs. When

parents try to retain too great a control over adolescents it Cdn inhibit the

development of competence and independence in individuals and lead to lower

self-esteem and this may spill over into the school situation.

The Institute recently studied the competence of adolescents aged 15 or 16

randomly selected from schools in all school systems in Vi~toria. measLlr'es of competence were mood, self-·esteem, a Close reading test (looking

at langui:~ge abilities) and everyday life skills scale which coven!d such

things as making beds, cooking simple meals, travelling by pUblic transport

and so on, as these skills are necessary in becoming independent. Each

indiVidual was interviewed and one parent was interviewed. Half the sample

came fl"om intact two parent homes and half lived in one .... parent famili.es or step... .. fami lies.

We looked at families that had high levels of income,

oCClJpational status and parental education as opposed to fami lies which W{!re

low on these variables. We looked at high and low competence children within both these groups. Several trends were apparent fr'om the


I I -.. 44 _ ..

I analysis. When comparing high versus low competence

ch i Id r'en from .h .. i..9..b

I 1.. High comp~~hHlC~! chi lcken generally came from famil ies where r'e lationships

were close, with frequent interaction between family members. Low

I I I I

2.

I I

competence children were more likely to come from families where

ndationships wen~ distant, both in tE,1rms of i.;lffection and freql.lEHlcy of intel"action. In high competence families, where interaction was les~ frequent, this was related to the adolescent having extensive networks of

fr'iends and activities outside the home. It was also related to par'ents

~~ivin~l up a cEwtcd.n dE,1gr'eE~ of contr'ol and encouraging indepE~ndence, whilE,1

pr'oviding a trusting and stable home ~Hlvironm~H1t.

A second r'elab~d tr'end emerged in which low competence adolescents from

high resource families frequently complained that they did not have enough

timE,l with pan1nts or' that their' parents were uninter'ested in what they

did. This concern was expressed more in regard to fathers who were often

seen as 'workaholics'.

I 3 . The parents of high competence ch i Id ren. in virtually all cases. he id high

~~ducational and occupational aspirations for their children, while the

I I I I I I I

opposite situation· usually existed for the parents of low competence childl"en.

Several trends also emerged when comparing low versus high competence children

Fro m 1.Q.~.-,,!:~~.~,.9._~!.r.:.~_~.,._.f'Y.:.m .. i. .. H.~~.

1, Low COl1lpetE,lncE~ chi Idren gem1r'ally canm fr'om fami 1 :i.es marked by seven1

multiple pr'obloms and sources of stl"ess. The chaotic, unpredictablo, and

d(lmandin~J natur'e of family 1 i fE,l app~~ii'lr'ed to 1e;)\1I(1 many of these pmrents

'dr'ain(~d' of tinH!, el'H!r'~3Y, mnd ~!motion.

2.

As a result, parent-child relmtionships tE:1nded to be distant and unrewarding.

Hi.gh comp(~U!I'lCO adolesc~Hlts, although' coming from fami li(~s which

fr'equently faCE:ld substatiml pr'obll'ms as well (oftEm llconomic i~l natunl),

nevertheless able to maintain a strong, supportive, close Y'elationships with at least one par'ent. Hwse par'ents intE~r'acted h"(>quently with thdr offspr'ing, ~!xprc~ssed positiv~! affect towar'd th~!I1l, thought highly of them, and frequently helped them with problems and

school wOI"k·.

-.. 4f:, -...

3. As was the case in the high resource families. a strong trend was apparent

fo," th(~ piU'E:mts of high compE:~t(mc(~ chi ldr'''~n to have higher' aspirations and

~~xp~~cta1:ions for' th(~ir chi Id'''E~n than did the panmts of low compE~tenu~ chi ldren.

low high competence group were one-parent families. Before divorce . thE:!se fam:i.l ies may

in E:~conond.cal1.y cin:umstances. The effects of earl i~~I" (!XPOsu"'e to gn~ater r'esour'ces could be

continl.lin~~ in spit(~ of th,,~ fact that current r'E:~SOI.'rces are low. In addition

these young people living in one-parent

improved emotional environment after the fami lies w(~re roe s pond i ng to an

relationship were removed. Whatev~~r' th~~

hmsion of an unhappy marital reason, it is c l(~ar that tl'H~se

lacked the fami 1 ies wen~ hi~~hJ.y fr'agi le. Sincl~ they social and economic ,"esour'c(~s which most families take fo," g,"antc~d, it is likely that the advEHlt

of some major problem (health, accident, unemployment) could throw these families into disequilibrium.

Overall, our analysis of data suggest lhat a high level of resources (such as

Occu~jation. income, and E~ducation) an~ adllantages in the development of chi ld

comp(~tence. YE:lt, much of their effect is mediated by their' impact on fami ly

'''e 1011: ionsh i ps and proce s ses . Some fami li(~s which WeI"E~ re lat i lie ly impoveri shed

in' material terms were still able to provide enriched home environments

inl1ol\ling wa,"mth, high quality inte,"action, Sl.IPP(wt. encouragement, and general

Youth in UH~se fami lies, although di sadvanti;\~~E:~d in cer'tain wa.ys,

were able to draw upon these inter~ersonal resources when they were needed.

It is noticeable also that it is in the families of the high competence young

people that pan~nts a.n~ p'''epan~d to suppor't g,"owing independEHlce in kec,lp:i.ng

with thE:l individuals levE:~l of physical, co~~niti\lE~ and E:!motional dE~\/elopnlPnt, whilE~ the par'EHlts of low compebHlce adolescEHlts a,"e less likE?ly to accE~pt or

severe family conflict wh:i.ch is un'''esolll(~d was found to halle n~~gat:i.\/(~ (~ff(~cts on self·· .. ·c~steem in all famil'y tYpes.

The lQ\rge numb(~r of h:iqh r'esource-···low compE:~tence adolescE:)nts who regreted the

lack of interest and attention shown by their fathers (usually due to

invOl\lE:lnlEmt with wor'k) highlights Uw importance of thE:! role of the father. H'

19h1y compE~tent chilcksn fr'om one··-pa,"ent homc~s did not E~xpress this n~gr-c~t. "d USually 1'e I t that the i r fathers we roe i nteres t.d in them even though they

I I I I I I I I I I I I I J


-_. 46 --

did not live in the household. Th!.ls, the cruc ial factor s(~ems to be the

interest and attention of the father rather than his location.

The negative effect of the father' s ~~motional distance and lack of attention

to children is currently a cause for concern among many people in the westerri

world (OECO, The Educational Role of the Family, 1983). Public attention needs to be drawn to the importance of the father in child rearing at all ages.

Male attitudes to work and the organisation of work hours both need

modi fication if the demands of work are not to detr'act from the father-.chi Id n~lationship. The traditional role of breadwinner can readily be used as a

cover' for shirking family responsibilities or as an escape from difficulties in the domestic situation.

Our' analysis of youn~~ people and th{~ir' families and th{;~ effects on child

competence indicates that to attempt to compensate for disadvantage based only

on par'ent income, education, ethnic i ty and such i tems dOE~s not go far enough

because it does not take account of the mediating effect of family processes.

Real value is to be found when thE.~ family is engaged in the educational process. However, this is a more difficult task· as many parents because of

the difficulties as~;ociated with lack of time, over'Wor'k, poverty, fear of

schools and author'i ty or barriers of language and values do not become

il1llOlved in school activities even when the opportunity is given. Yet our resl~arch indicates that parents on low incomes with low levels of education

have educational aspirations for their children that ar'e similar to those of

the better off better' educated par'ents. Where they di ffE~r is that they do not:

expect their childr'en will really go as far at school as they would like. In

families wher'e· at least onE~ par'ent is fr'om a non-English speaking ethnic

minodty gr'oup our' r'esE~oH'ch indicates tha,t parents arE:~ likely to have hi~~h{;H' iXsp:i.l"(;\tions and expectations for' th~~ir' children than Australian bor'n par'ents

. Or English spE:~aldn~J migr'ant par'ents. So we do need to inl/olve pan~nts in th{;~ process of their childs education as well as we engage the chilren.

An examplE:~ of a gr'oup of schools which have taken into account the needs of

parents and the community at both a general and particular level is the Inala

Schools Cluster in Queensland. The progr'am is particularly successful as it

inVolves outs ide community groups. This initiative combines: two secondary

~Chools; six primary schools and community support services such as the Comm .

UnIty Health Centre, the Inala Community House, Children's Services,

JUvenile Aid, the Family Education Centre, and the Child Guidance Centres into

Cl 9r

OlJp Working for' the good of all children and families. In addition ther'e

- 47 -.

:i s a Community Education Officer work ing fr'om a shop front in the local

shopping centr'e. Parents can drop in at thi s centre at any time with

questions to be answered or for personal help. The centre also provides a

meeting place for community initiatives such as the Safety House Program. A

local Development Officer is fascilitating neighbourhood meetings in the homes

of parents with the aim of setting up parent support groups which wi 11

eventually become self-perpetuating. At these meetings both welfare and

education issues will be discussed. 'The ideal of the Cluster is to pool its

resources (financial, physical and personnel) and co-ordinate them within a

total educational programme'. This initiative arose from recognition of the

particular difficulties associated with living in the Inala area. These are:

'The lack of adequate public transport at evenings and weekends between Inala,

the city and neighbouring suburbs ... combined with limited employment

opportunities, limited recreational activities and a growing ethnic

population, there is a need for schools to provide services beyond those

traditionally associated with basic education'. The cluster has four working

parties: Communications and Publicity, Early Childhood Language Development,

Equal Opportunities and Student Welfare.

This cluster is less than two years old and is based on the model of the much

older and established Doveton Cluster in Melbourne. Modifications have had to

be made to suit different conditions in Queensland but this is an exciting

attempt at community co-·operation and involvement which has gr'eat potential to

affect family processes - not just compensate for disadvantage.

Employment which is skilled and attractive which has declined for youth.

Among teenage gir'ls employment decl ined sharply for typi sts, nurses,

draftswomen, technicians, clerk.s and h11ephone operators. For boys

sUbstantial employment falls occur-red for electricians (largely in the

telecommunications, industry), dr'aftsmen and technicians, clerks, bank

tell(~r's, bookk~H~pers, printing trades workers, and postal worke·rs. It should

be noted that employnmnt loss has been heavy. in many occupations requir'ing

extended formal prepar'ation, wl'HH'e as ~~mployment gains have been greatest in

OCCupations requiring minimal vocational preparation' (Sweet, 1985, 4, 5).

We now hav'e the ir'onic situation of well ~~ducated youth in boring jobs which

once would have been filled by the less skilled and educated. Satisfaction is

Obtained from being employed rather than intrinsic to the nature of the work.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I ·1


_. 48 "".

Whey'e . tl'Hm do these young peopl~? find sati sfaction and interest in theil~

lilies? It appears to nH:1 that friE:Hldships, social lifE:1, and the successful

foY'mation of their own family become much more important in circumstances

where there is little challenge or satisfaction in work, If this is so should

schools pay more attention to human relationships, and l(~isure pursuits as

well as to delleloping the core skills necessCl.Y·Y to achiell(! in our system of

education and necessary in obtaining Cl. job?

,

-. 49 --.

.. ' ... r.~:.0.M.:I.:.I".'! ..... .P.I:?'9.~:'L.~~.§.I:':.~~ ...... 0.NP ...... Y.9Y.T.I.~ ...... ~.~J..~:.~:..I~~.~~.~ .... 0.r ..... !:~.(;.IJ99.1::: .. ' .... :.

MS. CLAIRE McCARTY VICE-PRESIDENT, SOUTH AUSTRALIAN INS1~TUTE OF TEACH-RS . ....•. - .....••...... - .••.•.....••••... - .•.••... - •• -.--.. - ..•. _ •..• _._ ...••. 1..-._ ..•• _ ....•. _._._._._._._ •• __ •••• __ •••••••. _ ••. _ .• __ •• _ •.•.• _ •.•••.•.• __ ••• _ .•....••..• ___ • ___ • __ • __ .• _ •• __ •.•.••• _ •... __ .....•.. _ .•.... _ .•.•.•...•. _ •••• ___ ._ •••.. _._. ______ ._.; ....•••..•••.•••

I was asked about 2 weeks ago to come here and comment on what Gay Ochiltree

was goinC:J to say to you. I said that would bl~ really nice and I asked if a

pap~)r could be s~mt to me b~~for'e that occasion so I could sp~md a day r'C~ad:i.nq

it and makE:) some wor'thwi le comment. However', I thlm h(;)ar'd that the pap{~r wa~J unal/a:i.lable and I thought what cou ld :r usefu lly do s :i.nce I hadn't n?ad the

paper. It occured to me that I could speak to you about the South Australian

T~?acher"s Institute's Youth Policy ... - or' the Austr'al:i.an T~?ach~?I"s' F~~der'at:i.on's Youth Policy. Both are comprehensive they talk about training and n~··-·tr'a:i.n:i.ng , income support and extension of education provision and I'm sur~ that would have been very worthwhile. HowE~ver., what I d id decide to do

instead was to speak to you i~ a personal capacity because I think it would be

more interesting.

I've been a teacher in the classrooms of so called disadvantaged youth for 20

I've taught in a London compr'ehensive, in a very poor school in

Kampctr'a, Uganda and the last 6 year's b(;)fore I became ViCE:) Pr'esident of SAl'T,

in the Parks area in Ad~laide. I'm going to be referring to those experiences

and I'm also going to be talking to you as a unionist who has had carriage of

industl"i.al mattel"s which re lat~? to youth. I hope that wi 11 be acceptabl.{? to YOt.l.

1 haVE:) taken Uw nli>l:i.n wtwds in ti'w title of Gay's spE?~?ch fanlily, youth,

succ~?ss and school as the P(~gs on which to hang what I'm about to say. I'd

like to begin with the family.

Th~? family is only OI·lE? influenc(;) on young peopl~?, an impol"tant 01'1(;), but only

one. School. :i.s an i.l1lptH"tant i.nf:l.wmc~~ on yOl.lI'lg p~wple, but only one. I think

th<'i\t both of th~~!H? an:) par't of soci{?ty and ar'e n~f1E:)cted by it. When 1 say

soci.~?ty, I m~~an a society which nowadays is world wid(~, not just Austr'al:i.an.

Tw() asp{)cts of thi>lt soch~ty affE?ct people., Firstly, it's economic str'l.Icture

~nd secondly the culture that is thr~wn up by that structure. Let's just have

a lOok at th~~ l~conom:i.c str'ucture in whi.ch we fi.nd ours(;)lvE:)s in the wOI"ld. r i r'st- L I . L • • • J l' 11 ] J " we nave 'llgI1~~SI: lrlCl.(;lenCe ~~ver wor .(J

internati.onal dE:)bt. Second ly, we an) increas in~~l.y history of poverty and

facinq recessions and we ha.v" .

'" Jl.lst com~~ thl"ough one. Austr'al:ia is still undulatinq along the vall~~y of


I . 1 ~I

1 I I

" ... 50 .. " .

that I"(~cession. ThinHy, in AustJ"alia and in many other industrialized

countries in the world, during that recession vast anmunts of money were moved

fl"om th(~ public sector' to the private sector. Money fr'om taxation. This was

clone on a mistaken assumption that if private enterprise received concessions,

it would cn~ate mOI':(~ jobs becaus(' :i.'i: was more pr'ofitable. occurTl)d. nli~t has not

In fact, UH~ rever's() has Occur-r-()d. (~mploYIll(~nt in th{~ manufactul"ing S(~ctor. With

There has been a reduction of

technoloqical changes it has bE~come mOr'l) capital inhmsivl>, not h)ss. Thus om) in SE~ven I1ll)mb(~rs of th{~

lJrwmployment in Austr'alia of b~~tweEm 8 and 1 OX. and all the sh~tistics J can

I lay my hands on, ind icate this wi 11 continue for the foreseeable futu,-e_

metal workers union are now unemployed. Overall, we have seen sustained

WOl1len ar'e wcn'se off than most.

I I I

80% of Wom(m still (~al''I'l under $1.8,000 and

then~ al"e l1lon~ women unemployed than the figures ind icat(~ because many don't r'e~1 :i. s t () r' .

r'ate afbn' Iceland and Turkey of the r'etention r'ate of young people in

I "hoo Is_ Overa 11 , li ke a ghas t 1 y, da,-k umbre 11., is the threat of nuclear

wal~. 1 think that's ndevant h(~n~ b(~cause only yeshH'day, a surv(~y was

'ThE:' pr'ovision of education thr'ough this hard p(;)riod has unfor'tunately also

I"educed. We sti 11 only spend 5.8% of our' gr'oss domestic product on education

-. which is about midd le of the ranqe in OECD countr'ies. We have the lowest

I I I I I I I

rel(~ased that sh()w(~d that most yOl.lI'lq Plwple ar'e pessimistic about that. In

fact, they believe that one will OCcur' in their' lifetime and th(~y'do not Wi.~nt to live on after it. So that's the scenerio and it's hideous.

Equally bad is the i~ssociated populal" cultur'e which is also a world culture.

I'm talking about lIid!:)o, magaz:i.m)s, film and h)lellision which I beliel/(;) an~ l.ar'~3(~ly lliol(mt, sexist, authorital"ian and competetive. I would like to q:i.v{~ you 0I'll) example. T tur'ned on OLII" tpl{~v:i.si()n at honK' last we(~k and saw a

PI~oql"am cal1(~d Blank(~ty Blanks. DLII"inq th(~ proqr'amllle the followi.ng stah~IlH~nt W8\~; iliad!:); liT halle lost Ul(;) oar' of m'y qondola so Twill lJS(;) insh)ad my BI...ANI<"

(to b~~ filled). Stn~iqht awa'y HH~ qlJiZllla~;b~I" r'ecih)d ti'w S(HltEHlC(~ with an

ltc;l!ii;\n acc(;)nt _ .. all SlJPposed to bE~ hn-r-ibly flmny, but what 'about our' nli~~r'ant PoPUlati.on? Th(~ Cl.ll'T(~ncy of hlJlnol.II" is tl'H~ bas:i.s of r'acislll. Secondly, on{~ of

the contE~stants follow{~d l.IP with Hl(;) sex :i. st statempnt "1' V{~ lost the oar' of my

90nd()l;~ so inst!~ad I wi 11 lJse my MOTHEI~"'''TI\H ... AW". By the tilTIH I'd fini.shed

W&tchinq the proqram, I had realized that what we were seHing was a

celel:n'at:i.on of a fl"aglllentation of knowl(~d~~e ,,- and a pr'Ollloti.on of competition.

-.. 51 -..

All of those things are a reflection of the society I have just described and

all of those things must be faced by young peoplE~ who have to be extremely

cd t:i.cal in ol"d(~r' to make it through. So how then are our youth to succeed in

that welter' of dismay? I believe, bE-~cause I am an optimist, that although

we'n~ swilllming against thE~ tide in schools, we can assist young people to bE~ cr-eaU ve, co-··operati ve, cd tical, indE:~pE:mdent lear'ner's and thinkers and to

tak(~ their' place in the wor'ld. To do this we need people and resour'ces in E:~dl.lcation .

I'll give you another example. When I was at the Parks 6 years ago, it was an

E~xperimEmtal time. We wen~ lucky enough to have slllall classes and to have

s~·H~ciaJ. people who wer'e very commi tted to the area. I met a number of

childrEHl that year. One was called (I won't use real names) Lee another was

called Sally and thE:~n ther'e were a ~~I"Ol.lp of others. Lee, we were told, was

the worst kid that had ever come out of primary school. He was a thug and a

vi.olent Pl~I"son which he demonstr'ah~d with sever'al four letter words and chairs'

flying across the class the first t:i.I1lE~ I met him. Six years later.thl"ol.lgh

dr'ama he found that ~w could bl~ valued, that he could achieve. He was given

great support from his teachers, In order to be in plays, he learnt to read.

He was E:~ventually put in char'ge of UH~ canteen and all thE:~ money, and

or'gani sed vis i. ts of people from other' schools. He found one of those r'are

things callE~d an appr'enticeship and hE:~' s now at wor'k as an apprentice metal worker. That's a Success story.

Sally had caring parents, but they were very old. She was a bright ~irl. She

also E:mj oyed dr'ama. She gained lots of experience, b(,~cal1le confident and able

as the n~st of th{~m did, and she is now on the TV pr'ogl"amme "Sweet and Sour".

She's also just begun filming an Australian film -- age 20. A success story.

The ()tht~I"s -.. played musical instnlnlEmts _ ... nothing br-i ll:i.ant bl.lt thE:~y liked

Play ing. They odg inally got together' for' the school play. They lE~arned and

now toud.ng Quelmsland earning $2,000 a week. AnothE-~r' SUccess story ..... but only b(~cause they l(~al"ned to b(~ indE~p(~ndent and cn~ative, Confi.dEmt and abh~. They wer'en' t afr'aid anymor{~. What about all thE:~ othel"s?

Well the oth(~r's ar'e probably not in (~Illployment. The jobs ar'(~ not ther'e for'

all, how(;wer' cornpetE:~nt and able and q1.1 i' .. \l Hied you an~. WE:~ teachers get a bi t

lir'ed of being told we're not tr'ain:i.nq children WEd 1.' We're training tht!11l bott· L , L

er tnan WE:~' ve eV{~I" tr'ained them -- th{~ jobs aren t trlE.~n~.

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-. 52 .....

My husband and I came hen~ in 1977. He'd been a c:i.l/i.l eng:in(~(~r for' an

an~hitecht' s finn in London for 10 yE:~al"s. I had 3 dE:~gn~es in education and :1.4

y(~ars experience. I was a contr'act b~ach(H' for a y(~ar and only by a compl(~te

quirk of fate did I become permanent. My husband took 2 years to find a job.

Now we can har'dly be described as incompetent and unqualified but we di.dn't

So what do you do about unE:~mployment? I b~~lieve that the Union

MOl/ement can hal/e an enormous effect because we are continuously in touch with the GOl/ernment.

We don't just vote fOI" them and th~~n wait for the next

election. We aF'<~ in touch with th(~m th(~ whole time .. On education, through the ACrU,

ACFSA we pn~ss for' affirmatil/e action on educational pr<;lvision for' mign~nts , women and wor'king class chi.l.dr'en. In case you think that i sn' L

necessary I would remind you that the participation and equity programme which

was the cor'ner stone of Labour's youth policy - has just b{~en halved. TAFE

had $12 milli.on capital expenditure cut from it in the mini budget in May.

Don '.t think We don't hcll/e to fight ..... WE~ do. Right thr'ough from pre school to

unil/er'sity 'we push for' smaller clasSE:~s better conditions and resources. We

fight for full employmEmt, and we have some strategies. Th(~ public sector

should be increased because that creates useful jobs, valuable services,

increases spending power which in turn inflates the economy from our taxation

rE!l/enue. It also inh~rweaves the pUblic and the pdl/ate. If one is

Successful, so is the other. We also attempt to r'(~distribute wealth. A

r(~cE:mt exc~mple. is our' taxation reform. More revenUE:~ should' be pr'ovided fcw

the Public Sel"vice ..... not fr'om the middle incom(~ ear'n(~r's who already pay most

but fr'om compi-:Hd.E~S who should pay thE~ir' share. We vigorously pursue these strategies all the time.

In conclusion I would like to say 3 things. First WE~ must all suppor't the

SOI"t of r'efol"ms that have been d i scu s SE~d today. They are ex treme ly

impor'h.mt. Financial support for' YC)l.lth; helping y~uth. to become independent

are what I call (~asing mechanisms. SE~c()ndly we have to support and' fight for'

i.ncl"E:~ased educational ~>r'ovision (teachE:~r's and resources) because without that

We have no future. Thir~ly, and har~est of all we hal/e to try to affect the

fundamE:~ntal issuE~ ..... thE~ economic structt.lr'e of this society and the wodd.

YOU'r'e probably think ing "Come off it. How are you qoinq to do that?" I

remind YOl,1 thE:' pr'esent economic systE}m is not a nab,lral disaster, it's not a

hurrican~~, it didn't blow in fr'ol1l the South Seas. It is there because peopl~~ nli~de dtlcisions. If you remE:~mber' thE~ 'Gr'c~pE:~S of WI"ath' YOLI will also n~nwmber'

--. 5:1 _ ...

the tragic ending met by one of the characters. He didn't succeed because he

wo)!ln't able to LIn:i.h~ with forces bi~~ E:moLlgh to bdng about change. WE:) must.

Those bigger forces we have to Llni te w:i. th ar'e w.hen~v(~r you are, __ in your

School Council (some of you are pl"obably still at school in the audience) in

your Union, in your pl"ofessional lobb.y group. Where\l(,'!r you are, you hav{~ to

pr'ess for' that chan~~e.· If groups of pE:wple all over UH.~ world are pn~ss:i.nq for change they cannot fail to affect even if they don't succeed.


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_ .. 54 _.

The following is a summary of Key points made and questions raised in response

to the material pres(~nted during th(~ S~~minar by a panel of workers from Cl

variety of Youth related fields.

Pand member's generally agr'eed that the new youth policy although not

without flaws is a ~ositive development,

Ar'e traineeships and the encour'agement of school retEHltion merely a

"holding house" measure?

What wi 11 the selection pr'ocess and cr'iteria for traineeship be.

Attempts to prolong the retention of young people within the education

systE:~m are rE.~sulting in a differ'ent client group. rhe sor'ts of young

people who used to leave school early are staying on. This has

rami fications for' tl~acher training, Educationalists have to examine their'

methodology and their understanding of how young people learn.

Drawing togetht!r' worker's fr'om a d :i. lIerse I~ange o'f different youth rE.~ lated

fields (as was done 'for' the sem'inar') will result in workers developing a

bn)ader' undEn'standing of youth than their sped fie client groups. The

concept of cross field seminars should be further developed.

Two issues educators need to addr'ess in assisting young people to b{~come independent al~e:

1. Literacy. numeracy and the ability to think constr~ctively and

analytically ar'e prer'equisib~s for independence in our society.

..... 5~) - ..

2. GilHm tht~ changing Qconom:i.c conb~xt, yo.unq people nQ~~d to be

An undel"stand:i.nq of wor'k r'athel" than S~)(:~c:i.fic job training is required.

Family r'E:~lc'tionsh:i.ps, alcohol, dr'u~~s and rE~cn.~at:i.on !'weds an~ ti'w isstws

most fr'~~qw~ntly I"cds~?d by "Str'~?~~tk:i.ds". Thes(~ younq Pt~ople have low

compehmce and n6 fOI"s{H?abh~ nwans of r'a:i.sin~1 it.

Many accE?pt 1./I·H?mployment as a fact of 1. i fe and havQ low expectations of

gettinq a job. New Government policy initiatives such as traineeships are

l.mUkely to affect this gr'oup. They seem to b~~ an ,;\ltel"nati.ve means i.nto

the workforce for younq people already heading in that direction.

Changes to incom(~ sl.lpport leadin~~ to incr'eills~?d ~?ducational acc(~ss may

encourage some younq people who might not otherwise, to cons.ider education.

YOtl/'lg people don't necessarily under'stand what youth policy is abOIJt, and

thE:' m~E?d fOI" a mac r'o .... ·economi c approach b.y COVE? r'rmwnt .

need is for a job.

Tri>limH?ships al"E:~ directed at 16-.. ·18 YE?ar' olds. rhE:1 19-"·2~) y{~ar' qr'oup is not addn?ssE?d.

Accommodation :i. sa. Illi>lj 01" pr'obh~11l facin~~ low :i.nconm youn~~ people.

with most difficulty frequently have low life competence.

IncollH? support ha!; imp], ications few young peoplE?' s abi 1 i ty to act on opt:i.ons.

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I,l


The App(~ndix contains a summar'y of issues r'aised during the question period.

The material reflects'i~formation presented by speakers and comments from the floor.

The

of surlley was bas(-?d in Victoria. A random sample was done across all types

schools and soc:i.o····economic groups. 1500 intE.~r'views were conducted with

t(~(mi.~gers and their father's. The surlley showed the main occupational grOl.lps

with difficulties communicating with their children were clerical. businessmen

i~nd entl"epnmeurs. Many manual labour'er's had good relationships with their'

children. Young people who had a high lellel of interaction with their fathers were found to have high self esteem.

Grandpar'ents ar'e I?laying an incr'easin~~ r'ole in chHdr'earing as the incidence

of mar'riage breakdowns and work ing mother's increases.

old pattern of transition. In a Generally. young people still want the

National sample of young single people. over 90'X. exp{~cted to b{:~ marr'ied.

Young people wanted security and settled relationships.

Youth Accommodation patterns change rapid ly. Many young people enter group

living arTangements which often breakdown. Young people may return home which

results in further conflict. Parents may be unwilling to support them.

Schools teach inter'pm'sonal communication to a limited extent now.

The Al.lstralian Counci I for Educational Resear'ch is cUrl"ently deve lopinq material on parenting.

Dr. Edgar stated a practical life experience· approach through schools and

TA FE is pref(H'abh~ to a formal approach. Thi.s could be achielled thr'oLlgh

cn~ating str'uctun~d trai.ning and wor'k experiences in the humari ser'vices

al"ea which would pr'ovide practical education in human relationships and

increase social support in the co~nunity.


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-. 2 -.

Student success could be increased by adopting a mastery learning

approach. The student is not permitted to progress onto the next stage

until the first stage has been completely mastered. This approach

focusses upon success, student participation, mastery of skills and a

structured environment. Reference was made to two examples the

effective schools movement in the United States and Victoria.

Unemployment can't be tackled through the education system. The permanent job structure market needs to be re-examined.

But education has remained academically orientated. Greater stress needs

to be placed on the development of entrepreneurial skills and "1i fe skills".

Jobs are gained through practical experience. It is a myth that the

majority of people get job~ through academic qualifications ..

9~~.i.!.9ns: Session 2.

An infrastructure of services are needed for the under 16 year old, not simply income support.

The Federal Government is not well set up for this type of service delivery, hence the States must be involved.

State Government generally does have networks of Community Services for young people.

It is prosed that support for unsupported young people in education wi 11

eVentu'ally come from the Education Department but there is currently no structure to enable thi s to occur.

Security is likely to be involved. In the shor·t term, Department of Soc ial

income arrangements is co-·ordinating the many different A difficulty with

functional areas of government that are necessary to provide adequate

SUPPort. It may be useful to provide a reference point in the local community I4Jh' lch provides infor'mation on Federal and State Services.

\' , ,

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Many Kirby traineeships wi 11 come from, eXisting jobs which are converted,

(There was some concern expressed by the floor). The aim in South Australia

foy' traineeships is the multiplier effect, aimed at creating addi tional positions and the concept of equity.

Many young people leaving school receive training from colleges, universities

etc. which is payed for by the taxpayer. Historically, outside of the

apprenticeship system and formalized systems of education, no training has

been prov ided to other school leavers. It has been left up to employers.

Underly ing traineeships is the concept of equity and the formalization of

training in areas which do have skills which young people have traditionally

acquired on an ad hoc bas'is - sometimes well supported by an employer

sometimes not. They've not had a marketable qualification for other positions.

The concept of equity and formalization of training have been the parameters

behind development of traineeships in South Australia.

it· Ib_Lgffect of inc.Q!lliL~upport on famib breakdown

Some trends toward family breakdown can be addressed by policy. Providing

adequate levels of income' SUpport to young people in families with too little

money to enable them to stay at school and/or home can alleviate pressure in

fami lies experiencing financial stress. This can increase the capacity of the

family to maintain viability. But there are many families that are

economically stable which young people leave - either of their own accord or

because uf family conflict. Government intervention has no success in these instances.

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4 -

Overall cer·tain fami lies dq gi ve chi ldr'en . better opportuni ties. Advantaged

fami lies have greater resources to draw upon to SUpport a non-competent child.

Patterns of competence do emerge due to structural and emotional resources.

However there are differences between siblings. These are due to factors such as ;.-

differences in the child-parent relationship genetic factors

individual differences in personality and therefore the way the child reacts.

*. A number of comments were made from the floor about the PEP program referred to by Clair McCarthy. The main points made were;-

PEP funding was di stributed to targE.!tted schools only, therefore it hasn I t impacted upon a large number of young people.

Cuts in PEP funding will deplete available resources but payment to young

people remaining in education and training may s igni ficantly increase the numbers doing so.

Valuable, worthwhile projects may be lost and participants frustrated due to PEP funding cuts.

(e. g. _. Teacher resources were made avai lable to consider student voice in

the school and parental involvement (particularly ethnic parents).

A CYSS was funded to run courses relevant to employment (job search)

the majority of cours~ participants have since gained employment.)

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The need to address the question 'who is responsible for young people?'

, . In order to develop appropriate service delivery for young people, State

and Federal services must be co-oordinated. This wi 11 pr'event young people from 'slipping through the net'.

'Socially disadvantaged' is a relative term. Some cultures are made

inferior by the dominant culture. E.g. working class culture is labeled

as disadvantaged when it should be accepted and valued for what it is.

Decision making should be encouraged in schools. It is important thOlt

young people learn that they can affect things by making decisions, that , o their actions can change society.

Greater emphasis should be placed on student directed learning.

Lack of information exchange within the education department i tsel f and

between the department and other fields of youthwork was identified as a problem.

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