The purpose of the Short Term Emergency Assistance (STEA) Programme is to provide financial assistance to eligible schools in the event of an unexpected circumstance causing severe, temporary financial difficulty, in an environment where the eligible school has exhausted all other sources of assistance and is capable of resuming operations in a manner satisfactory to the Department of Education, Science and Training within two years of the financial assistance being provided.
In the calendar year 2007, $921,000 is available under the STEA Programme. The programme is application based.
The complete application must be received by DEST before the assessment of eligibility can commence. The application comprises:
- A statement of claims addressing the four STEA criteria as set out in the STEA Guidelines;
- A statement of the STEA funding sought including how the amount has been calculated;
- A Business and Recovery Plan addressing the financial emergency; and
- The enrolment, governance and financial information requirements listed in the STEA Guidelines.
The detailed school governance and financial information will be assessed in terms of the extent to which it:
- supports and substantiates the school’s claims under the STEA criteria;
- enables DEST to develop a thorough understanding of the school’s financial situation and its underlying causes; and
- validates and supports the Business and Recovery Plan.
Eligibility criteria and exclusions from eligibility are set out in the STEA Guidelines, however, it should be noted that:
- a school which is experiencing long-term financial difficulties or is likely to close is unlikely to attract assistance;
- the resources available to a system would make it less likely that a systemic school will be eligible for STEA. A statement from the system authority explaining the need for Australian Government funds must accompany any application from a systemic school;
- STEA will not normally be provided for expenditure of a capital nature, or where a loss results from inadequate insurance cover for capital facilities.
Financial assistance can only be paid through an agreement, between the Commonwealth of Australia (through DEST) and the approved authority, which sets out the conditions on which the financial assistance is to be provided. The STEA financial assistance is not required to be repaid, provided that the recipient meets all the obligations and conditions set out in the agreement.