The Nationals’ Member for Mildura, Jade Benham, has called on the Minister for Education to reinstate the P–12 Complexity Allowance, warning that recent changes will deprive the Mildura electorate’s P–12 colleges of vital learning support and opportunities.
The P–12 complexity allowance, part of the Student Resource Package (SRP), provides additional funding to schools that combine primary and secondary education, recognising the unique administrative and operational challenges of a P–12 setting. This funding has been critical for schools across the Mildura electorate.
“The recent SRP changes, which phase out the P–12 complexity allowance over several years, will have significant and long-lasting impacts on our schools,” Ms Benham said.
“Once these cuts are fully implemented, schools will face reduced VCE subject offerings, limiting pathways for senior students, and fewer VET and applied learning opportunities, which are essential for local employment readiness. Engagement in tertiary education in the north-west of Victoria is already much lower than the state average, so these VET pathways are crucial for preparing students for work.”
Ms Benham also highlighted the impact on individual student support. “This funding has allowed schools to provide tailored academic and wellbeing programs, including literacy and numeracy intervention, mentoring, and social and emotional support. In a state where literacy and numeracy are at historic lows, removing this allowance puts remote communities at an even greater disadvantage.
“Schools in our electorate already struggle to attract and retain high-quality staff, and these cuts will only make matters worse. Despite using their existing resources efficiently and achieving excellent results, our schools are being unfairly penalised by the Allan Labor Government.
“Labor cannot manage education, and regional Victorian students are paying the price.”
