Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to rise tonight in this cognate debate to speak on the Schools Assistance Bill 2008. At the outset of my contribution to this debate I would like to emphasise the enormous contribution that is made to the education of students throughout Australia by both the public and the private sector. In the Shortland electorate over 80 per cent of students attend public schools and as such it is imperative that those children have equal access to quality education. This is the first tranche of legislation that will ensure that all students throughout Australia have a quality education. This is about setting a high benchmark, a benchmark that will ensure equality of education and equality of opportunity for all students in Australia. The bill defines a major change in Commonwealth funding for schools as the current act and previous acts provided funding for both government and non-government schools. In the future, Commonwealth funding for government schools will be negotiated through the National Education Agreement, which is currently being negotiated between the Commonwealth and the states through COAG.

This bill addresses the funding of non-government schools for 2009-12. It is part of the government’s overall agenda for delivering a quality education revolution to all schools. It will continue the current socioeconomic status funding, the SES funding, and indexation arrangements for non-government schools for 2009-12, meeting the government’s election commitment. Part of that commitment is that no school will receive a lower level of funding.

Today the students of Budgewoi Public School visited this parliament and saw firsthand how it operates. The students in that school come from a less advantaged area than some other students in Australia and the funding arrangements that will be put in place by the Rudd government will ensure that those students obtain a quality education. They asked some very insightful questions about the operation of this parliament and they demonstrated an outstanding knowledge of government.

As I mentioned, the majority of students in the Shortland electorate attend government schools. The 19 per cent of students who attend non-government schools mainly attend Catholic diocese schools. Those schools need to receive the security of funding that is provided through this bill. In addition to the Catholic schools in the Shortland electorate there is one other non-government school, the Belmont Christian College, which provides a fine education to the students who attend that school.

The secret to education is that it must provide opportunity. Education is the key to a successful life. Education is the key to a career, the key to success and the key to choice in life. If a young child is denied equal education opportunities when they first go to primary school and is unable to read or has poor numeracy skills, that will impact on their whole life. It will impact upon their choice of job and of where they live—it will impact on every aspect of their life. The simple fact is that, if they do not have those basic skills, they will not have the same opportunities that others enjoy from the knowledge gained at school. One of the key aspects of the Rudd government’s legislative program for schools in Australia is to ensure that all students have that opportunity.

The students from Blacksmiths Public School, who will be visiting parliament later this week, will benefit from the education policies that the Rudd government is putting in place. When the first round of computers were provided to high schools in the Shortland electorate, all schools—government and non-government—bar one obtained computers, which means that the students at those schools now have the opportunity to embrace information technology and access the wide range of information that computer technology provides, simply because of the policies of the Rudd government. The trade training centres will also provide young students with the skills that they need when they leave school to take up apprenticeships and will assist them to move seamlessly from school to the workforce. Many of the election commitments delivered in the 2008 budget were part of our education revolution. That includes the trade training centres that I just spoke about. The digital education revolution, as I have already pointed out, has put computers in high schools in Shortland. And the COAG reform framework means that for the first time governments in Australia will agree to a single set of objectives, outcomes and outputs resulting in educational priorities and reform directions for the education system.

This legislation will include requirements for non-government schools to meet certain objectives and provide certain information. That will provide parents with clear information about the performance of their children and their children’s school, comparative information about performances, and performance data about schools and school systems. This is a whole new approach to education.

I must also inform the House that the Education Legislation Amendment Bill 2008 is a continuation of appropriations for 2009 to 2012 for a range of targeted programs and projects under the Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Act 2000. It provides appropriations for supplementary assistance to preschools and vocational education and training providers of Indigenous education. This is very important because one aspect of Indigenous education is the very low retention rate. Indigenous students do not have the same educational outcomes as non-Indigenous students. As I pointed out in my earlier comments, this affects the choices that they have in life. The Rudd government and Minister Gillard are not prepared to let this situation continue. We can see the problems and we intend to act to resolve those problems to give Indigenous students the same sort of educational outcomes that other students have. This legislation will give students who attend schools in Shortland the same sort of educational outcomes as students who live in Wentworth, the Leader of the Opposition’s electorate. I believe that, no matter where a student goes to school, they should have exactly the same opportunities as students in other areas.

I notice the shadow minister for early childhood education, childcare, women and youth, who is at the table, shaking her head in disagreement with my comment. I say to the shadow minister: I am committed to ensuring that all students have equality of education. I think that she should get on board, stop shaking her head and say, ‘Yes, I think that no matter where a student goes to school, whether in the non-government or the government sector, they should most definitely have the same opportunities in life as students in my electorate.’

The legislation will ensure the security of funding for non-government schools. It delivers on the Rudd government election commitments, as will other legislation that will soon be before the House, including legislation for the national education agreements that will fund government schools. I commend the legislation to the House.

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