Changes to funding arrangements for the Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ITAS)

By Celeste Liddle (Indigenous). The Federal Government early last month announced changes to the funding arrangements for the Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ITAS) and this prompted a number of responses from Indigenous centres at universities and Indigenous peak bodies concerned how this will impact service delivery to Indigenous students in the tertiary sector. Of particular concern was the fact that rather than a set allocation based upon student numbers at Universities, the process was changing to a competitive bidding one where universities were required to put in applications. When the changes were announced, the actual funding process had not been elucidated by the government so universities were left in the dark about the process despite having initially less than a month to prepare their bids.
Further information is via the Department of Prime Minister and the Cabinet website. More...