The Melbourne Newsroom

The Dean of the Faculty of the VCA and Music at the University of Melbourne, Professor Barry Conyngham, has enthusiastically welcomed the allocation in yesterday’s state budget of $24 million to support arts education at the VCA.

Professor Conyngham said the fulfillment of the promise made by the Premier would allow VCA to “do the job we want to do”.

The funding committed in the 2011-12 Victorian Budget is for $6 million a year over four years.

It will deliver a range of practical initiatives to provide career pathways for students, including:

Below is a list of experts available to comment on the State and Federal budgets.

The announcement of a $57 billion deficit by the Federal Government on Tuesday did not surprise Associate Professor Mark Crosby; but the decisions to delay policies such as maternity leave and a pension increase have.

“It seems strange that the Government has decided to delay certain policies because if it’s a good idea why not start now?” he says.

“The effect of delaying these policy delays will have a minimal effect on revenue and taxes, as while some changes will cost the government, some are revenue raising.”

VIDEO ALERT: Paid maternity leave will increase the value our nation places on paid and unpaid work of mothers according to University of Melbourne researcher Amanda Cooklin.

Ms Cooklin says the inclusion in tomorrow’s budget of an 18-week paid parental leave scheme which will begin nationally from January 2011, is an “historic and important decision”.

Professor Lyn Yates says funding for school buildings and facilities will help improve student morale and retention rates.

In today’s state budget, the Victorian Government has allocated $402 million toward the rebuilding and renovation of 113 state government schools across the state. These funds will be combined with the Federal government’s allocation of $686 million for Victorian schools’ infrastructure projects.