Andrew Leigh

LABOR WILL GIVE CANBERRA STUDENTS A $6 MILLION SPORTING CHANCE

A Shorten Labor Government will commit $6 million in a boost to disadvantaged school students who are seeking higher education.

This election will be a choice between a Shorten Labor Government that will help empower disadvantaged students to access higher education or more of the Liberal’s cuts and chaos.

If elected, Labor will co-fund the University of Canberra’s Sport and Health Empower Program, helping local students work towards a career in sport, health, and wellbeing.

The program will use sport as a pathway for participants to enrol in university and raise aspirations for higher education among school students from Canberra and the surrounding region.

The idea of going to university can be overwhelming, particularly if participation has not been modelled by family and friends. Through this program the University of Canberra will help many young Canberrans to realise that a keen participation in sport can also lead to university.

Students from Years 10, 11 and 12 will be enrolled in the program across two to three years and have a high level of engagement with the university during this time. They will have access to on-campus clinics, as well as receiving mentoring from elite athletes and practising health professionals. The funding will also help fund the development of online training modules in sport, health and personal development.

Benefits to participants include:

• Connection with like-minded peers.
• Sport and skills development, as well as personal development, including leadership skills.
• Experience alongside elite athletes, sport professionals and health professionals.
• Access to university facilities, including sporting facilities and the library, as well as tickets to University of Canberra sporting games.
• Where appropriate, access to University of Canberra scholarships and early conditional offer to the University of Canberra.

Places will be reserved for underrepresented groups, including students with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, students from low socio economic backgrounds and regional students.

This Saturday, there is a clear choice for voters – Labor’s commitment to invest in education, or the Liberals’ cuts and chaos.

Australia has the chance to end this chaos. Vote for change. Vote for Labor.

Funding for this commitment has been included in Labor’s Fair Go Budget Plan, available at http://www.alp.org.au/labors_fiscal_plan

ENDS

Authorised by Noah Carroll ALP Canberra.