Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the member for Forde's motion and I thank him for bringing it to the attention of the chamber. I recently heard from Jack from Mooloolaba, who talked about his chaplain, Chappy Stu. Jack is a family violence survivor who entered high school with a whole array of struggles. Chappy Stu took Jack under his wing, paid for leadership training, spent lunchtimes with him and looked after him. Jack went on to graduate high school with a scholarship to study law and returned to his high school to help kids just like him. He credits his chaplain for pulling him out of a downward spiral to nowhere.

Our chaplains don't just transform lives; they often save lives. The University of Western Australia's national school chaplaincy evaluation showed that 87 per cent of schoolteachers, student services and executives found that chaplains made their students feel loved and safe; 81 per cent identified that chaplains enhanced students' school participation; and a majority found they positively added to learning, health promotion, filling basic material needs and cultivating a positive sense of culture and identity. These are fantastic outcomes, which show that the chaplaincy program is working. Any good government would get behind a program with this kind of support and with these kinds of outcomes.

Today I call on the Albanese government to continue investing in the National School Chaplaincy Program in the long term. I call on them to restore the DGR status to Scripture Union and all other charitable organisations providing chaplaincy services to schools, institutions and local communities. If the government were fair dinkum about the welfare of young people and the importance of chaplaincy to young people, why on earth would they have removed the DGR status from Chaplaincy Queensland? It beggars belief.

Scripture Union, Queensland's largest school based chaplaincy provider, estimates that chaplains have as many as 26,000 pastoral care conversations every week with students, their families and their teachers. An average chaplain working three days a week will have a weekly load of 23 students in need of pastoral care. I've heard stories of chaplains working 12-hour days just to fit all their work in. They're running breakfast programs before the sun rises and hosting community events long after the sun sets. School chappies show compassion and devotion to making our community safer, better engaged and more inclusive.

I want to conclude by paying tribute to those school chappies in my electorate who go above and beyond. I want to say a very big thank you, from me and from your school communities, to Shane Brigg; Michelle Winser; Scott Carroll; Mark Green; Mel Abesamis; Justin Davis; Renee Chopping; Peta Simpson, who I saw on the weekend, and it was good to see you, Peta; Anita Kelly; Mike Turner; Chris Boughen; Megan Hayes; Brad Wooing; Theresa Sayooli; Nova van Maanenberg; Jayde Treloar; Anita Baills; Donna Turner; Mitch Lovell; Mandy McDonald; Cathie Clancy; Dave Larkin; and all those people work in this sector.

I have been to many chaplaincy fundraising events. The realisation of the concept of chaplaincy, of looking after the welfare of young people in schools, wouldn't have happened but for the decision of John Howard all those years ago. We continued that funding over the nine years of the latest iteration of a coalition government. We are committed to looking after the welfare of young people. I am really concerned that the government would make this into a political statement by removing the DGR status of some of these organisations. What does the government have against these religious bodies? I do not know. I call upon them to return that DGR status today.

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