Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Education. What steps is the Albanese Labor government taking to build a better and fairer education system?

Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the brilliant member for Boothby for her question. Teaching is the most important job in the world, and the truth is we don't have enough teachers. Part of it's pay and part of it's workload, but part of it is respect. That's what the Be That Teacher campaign that the PM launched two weeks ago is all about. It stars eight teachers, one from each state and territory.

One of those teachers is Mrs Frogley from South Australia. She tells the story of a young girl that she taught named Izzy with sacral agenesis, which meant that the lower part of her body didn't develop. It meant she couldn't join with her friends doing athletics or cross-country. That's when Mrs Frogley suggested that Izzy try swimming. The next thing you know, Mrs Frogley was watching Izzy blitz it through the pool in Tokyo at the Paralympics. When she got back, Izzy gave Mrs Frogley a note thanking her for getting her into swimming, and Mrs Frogley still has that treasured note. She says in the ad, 'Teaching really does give so much more back than you actually give out.' You can see Mrs Frogley today tell that story on billboards right across Adelaide, including on Goodwood Road in Cumberland Park, in the electorate that the member represents.

But this isn't the only thing that we're doing to encourage more people to want to be that teacher. Last week, applications opened for 5,000 teaching scholarships that are worth up to $40,000 each, and already more than 2,500 people have applied for those scholarships. Two weeks ago, applications also opened for round 2 of the Schools Upgrade Fund. That's $215 million to fund things like replacing demountables with permanent classrooms, and upgrading tech and music rooms and outdoor equipment in public schools. I encourage all members on all sides of the House to get in contact with their local public schools and encourage them to apply.

Applications are also now open for 10 new regional university study hubs. They're places where you can go and study, for almost any degree at any university, close to where you live. There are 34 at the moment. Where they are, they work. That's why we're doubling the number of them: 20 more for the bush, 20 more for the regions and 14, for the first time, in our outer suburbs. As I said, applications are now open. I encourage all regional members to work with your community and put an application in. Applications close for those on 15 December. They're just a couple of examples of the real common sense, practical things that we're doing to help build a better and a fairer education system.