Push for uni deferral pays off

Tuesday October 03, 2023

REGIONAL students looking to defer their Bachelor of Medical Radiation Science will be able to do so after a Mount Gambier/Berrin mother called for the change.

Rachel Beavis has been celebrating a successful outcome alongside her daughter Mia, after the University of South Australia backflipped its decision to ban future students from deferring the course.

Ms Beavis told The Border Watch it came to her and her daughter's attention that Mia would not be allowed to defer the course should she be approved at the end of the year after a discussion with universities at a career exposition.

"Mia was interested in going to university but she was unsure about what she wanted to do," Ms Beavis said.

"She spoke to the people from Benson's Radiology and to people at the careers exposition night at Tenison Woods College with a Bachelor of Medical Radiation Science something she became interested in." She said Mia soon discovered she would not be able to defer for a a gap year should she be successful, something which was not an option financially.

"I didn't even know there were courses which were not deferrable," Ms Beavis said.

"We would not be eligible for Centrelink which was why Mia needed to take a gap year and work to get some money behind herself before she goes away to university." After thinking about the situation, Ms Beavis sent a number of letters to those involved, including Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell.

"I decided it was not fair because if we lived in the city we would be able to send our children to university just like they go to school," she said.

"I know we have an expanding university here which is great for people, but there are degrees the country universities don't do." Ms Beavis said she believed the initial outcome was "fantastic" and believed a lot of students needed to work prior to university for financial reasons.

"I am a teacher myself and so I really value the choices children want to make for themselves as young adults," she said.

"I think regional students should be able to defer all courses in the medical field because I have since found out you cannot defer medicine to become a doctor and that is another area where we are screaming out for." Upon receiving the letter, Mr Bell wrote to Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Susan Close.

After receiving correspondence from Ms Close announcing the change in decision, Mr Bell said for regional students, the decision to defer a course was "not often a choice they can make".

"They need to defer, the financial pressure of sending your child away to a capital city to live and study often requires the students to take a 12-month break to work to save money, as well as then becoming eligible for the Independent Living Allowance from Centrelink," Mr Bell said.

"It is no secret that country kids face significant barriers in moving to Adelaide and the financial one is just one of those.

"We do not think about these barriers until we are faced with them ourselves and I would like to thank Rachel for bringing this issue to my attention." Mr Bell said once regional students completed their degree, he would encourage them to look at regional areas as their "first foray" into work life and employment due to the benefits.

"We need country kids returning to the country and supporting their communities long term," he said.

A UniSA spokesperson said all other programs within the Allied Health and Human Performance suite offered students the provision to defer.

"This discrepancy was a legacy issue that was brought to our attention in August this year by an SA government department, following communication by a prospective student's family with Troy Bell," the spokesperson said.

"UniSA investigated the matter immediately, which resulted in a change to the program to enable its deferral.

"This has been communicated to SATAC, and to the student's family and this change ensures that the Bachelor of Medical Radiation Science is aligned with the full suite of programs offered within UniSA Allied Health and Human Performance in terms of the option for deferral." The spokesperson said the university was "committed to enabling students across South Australia to access high quality tertiary education".

"We recognise that flexibility is an important factor in supporting students to achieve success in their chosen field of study," they said.

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