Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The incorporated speech read as follows—

The 2026 school year has begun, and I acknowledge the remarkable work happening in classrooms right across Australia—and particularly in the vibrant schools of my electorate of Pearce—while highlighting the Albanese Labor government's record investment in public education through the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement. This time of year always fills our communities with energy and optimism. Across Pearce, students are settling into classrooms, teachers are welcoming students, and families are returning to routines that form the rhythm of our daily lives. Behind every one of these moments are the dedicated principals, teachers, education assistants and support staff who make our schools such important hubs of community life. Their care and commitment ensure that every child in Pearce, and across our nation, has the opportunity to reach their potential.

This year also marks the beginning of a historic new chapter for Australian public education. The Better and Fairer Schools Agreement represents the largest Commonwealth investment in public schools by any government in Australia's history. This is a record investment—one that reflects the Albanese Labor government's unwavering belief that every child, in every classroom, deserves an excellent education, no matter where they live or what their circumstances may be. Importantly, this is an agreement built on fairness and results. It is a partnership with states and territories that ensures record funding is delivered alongside genuine reforms—reforms that will lift student outcomes in literacy, numeracy and student wellbeing, while supporting teachers to focus on teaching and learning. We know that education is one of the greatest equalisers in our society, and we have a responsibility to make sure that every student, in every community—whether in Butler, Wanneroo, Two Rocks or Kinross—has equal access to opportunity. That is what this agreement delivers.

We all know that great schools rely on great teachers. Teachers are the heart of our education system, inspiring, guiding and empowering students every single day. I have had the privilege of visiting many schools across Pearce, and, in every conversation I have with teachers, one theme is constant: their deep dedication to their students. We owe these teachers not just our gratitude but our support. That is why the Albanese Labor government is taking practical action to tackle teacher shortages, improve training and make teaching a sustainable and rewarding profession. Encouragingly, new data shows more Australians are choosing to study teaching—a sign that our initiatives are working. Through the Commonwealth paid prac initiative, student teachers are now being paid during their practical placements, easing financial pressure and helping more people complete their degrees. Commonwealth teaching scholarships are opening doors for capable, passionate Australians to enter the profession and stay there. Our reforms to strengthen initial teacher education are ensuring graduates are well prepared for the classroom from their very first day.

I also want to acknowledge the national effort underway to prevent and respond to bullying in schools. A safe and inclusive learning environment is essential for every child's success. Whether it's in the schoolyard, the classroom or online, bullying has no place in our communities. In Pearce, our local schools are showing real leadership in this area—with student wellbeing programs, peer support initiatives and mental health partnerships that create safer, kinder learning environments. The Albanese Labor government continues to work closely with states, territories and school communities to support these efforts and ensure every child feels safe, respected and valued.

Education is about more than academic success—it's about helping children grow into confident, compassionate and capable young Australians. Through the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, we are making that vision a reality. We are investing in schools, supporting our teachers and strengthening the foundation of our education system in a way that will deliver lasting benefits for students in Pearce and across the nation. When I visit local schools, I see firsthand how vital those investments are. I see new classrooms being built, teachers innovating with new technologies and students developing the skills they will need for the jobs of the future. These are the real-world results of the government's commitment to a better and fairer education system.

I am proud to represent a community that values education so deeply and that works so collaboratively to give every child the best start in life. The Albanese Labor government will continue to deliver on our commitment to fairness, quality and opportunity—because every child, every family and every community deserves nothing less.

Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I rise to speak on the topic of investing and supporting schools. There are two things to be said on this topic. If a government cannot keep principals safe, it is not supporting schools. And, if a government can't adequately fund Victorian public schools properly, it's not investing in schools. On both counts, the Albanese government has failed.

Today's Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun reports are a disgraceful read. They report violence against school principals has surged by up to 150 per cent since 2011. They report some principals are too frightened to leave their offices at drop off and pick up. They carry the chilling warning that, on the current path, 'someone is going to die'.

The wider data is grim. Reporting today on the Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey says 47.8 per cent of principals experienced violence in 2025, and 53.7 per cent faced threats of violence. Principals are being punched, kicked, pinned against walls, followed home, stalked by cars with headlights off and pelted with rocks. They're having chairs, tables and bookshelves thrown at them and are being threatened with death and rape, and forced to hide in locked rooms. Some have received broken bones, cuts and severe bruising in the attacks.

The ACT is the worst jurisdiction. The ACT, under Labor, had an increase in physical violence against principals of 150 per cent between 2011 and 2025. In the ACT, with it's 25-year Labor government, I'm told it's now safer to be an inmate in a correctional facility than it is to be a school principal. It's a disgrace.

Enough is enough. The coalition says enough. We back principals. We respect their authority. We believe a school leader should be able to walk the grounds of their own school without fear. We believe governments should empower principals. That's what we stand for: empower principals to enforce discipline, empower principals to maintain safety.

This government has, for the better part of a week, been congratulating itself on full and fair funding. But in Victoria the spin doesn't match the facts. The government has been constantly gaslighting. When the Prime Minister stood up in March last year and said every jurisdiction was on track to receive an increase in school funding and to receive the school full school resourcing standard, it simply wasn't true. It simply was not true.

The proof is publicly available. To get an increase in funding, what you need is a document called a bilateral agreement between the Commonwealth and the state. In March last year, there was no bilateral agreement with Western Australia and no bilateral agreement with Victoria. It was a falsehood. Labor must have been feeling the pressure of that untruth, because, in desperation, in December 2025, the Albanese and Allan Labor governments signed a stopgap funding measure that lasts for just 12 months.

There are two things to say about this. First, it expires at the end of the year. Second, it simply maintains the status quo; there is no increase on the table. If you put the Northern Territory to one side, as the Prime Minister himself has done, recognising the unique challenges in the Territory, then, thanks to the Allan and Albanese Labor governments, Victorian government schools have the lowest funding in the entire country. The funding for Victorian public schools is lower than the funding in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, the ACT, Tasmania and South Australia, and this is entirely the fault of the Allan and Albanese Labor governments. Compared with New South Wales, in this year alone, high schoolers in Victorian public schools are shortchanged by $860 per student for every single one of the 667,000 Victorian students. Compared with South Australia, it's $900 less per student, and for Tasmania, it's $1,740 less per student for every single student.

Maybe if Victorian Labor hadn't paid $600 million for another country to host the Commonwealth Games, they wouldn't be falling behind under this funding agreement. Maybe if the Allan government hadn't funnelled $15 billion of taxpayer money to the CFMEU, kids in Victoria would have a chance at a better education. This is the CFMEU-Labor cartel in action. Labor's run Victoria's economy into the sand, and it's Victoria's schoolchildren who now suffer the consequences.

I want to finish by putting some facts on the table, because over the last week I've seen the falsehoods around cuts to education being peddled by Labor. The simple fact is that annual school funding nearly doubled under the coalition. Don't take my word for it. Look at the publicly available reports. Australian government schools funding is published each year on the Department of Education website. In 2014, total funding to the states and territories and non-government schools was $13.77 billion, in 2015 it was $14.95 billion, in 2016 it was $16.14 billion, in 2017 it was $17.63 billion, in 2018 it was $18.8 billion, in 2019 it was $21.37 billion, in 2020 it was $21.99 billion, in 2021 it was $23.8 billion, and in 2022 it was $25.59 billion. The coalition has increased— (Time expired)

Sam Lim (Tangney, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tangney has 43 public schools, and through the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, all these schools are on the path to full and fair funding. When we came to government, private schools were fully funded, but this was not the case for public schools. Through the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement we are delivering an additional $16.5 billion in Commonwealth funding to public schools over the next decade.

In WA, this means an extra $2.4 billion for all our public schools. It is the biggest new investment in public schools by the Australian government ever. I speak with teachers, principals, families and students in my electorate of Tangney, who tell me that this funding is much needed. They love public school and they recognise the crucial role our public schools play in our society. They want to see a fairer education system. The funding is tied to real and practical reforms, such as phonics checks and numeracy checks, evidence based teaching, and small group tutoring to help children who need the extra support. Under the agreement, every state and territory will have a year 1 phonics check this year. In 2028, every state and territory will have numeracy check.

I have spoken before about a teacher who changed my life, and I think many of us will agree that teaching is one of the most important jobs in the world. I want to take a moment to acknowledge the public school teachers in Tangney. Their dedication and their belief in their students helps shape not only the future of individual students but the future of our community and our society.

We need more teachers. Between 2017 and 2023, the number of students studying teaching dropped 22 per cent. We are now seeing a big turnaround in the number of people studying teaching degrees, and that number has bounced back by 20 per cent. Early data this year shows another increase in university offers. We have invested $160 million in the Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships program, which is delivering 5,000 scholarships over five years. In return for the scholarship, teachers need to commit to working in public schools for up to four years.

For the first time ever, the Australian government is delivering paid prac, including for teaching students while they undertake their mandatory placements. Students in Tangney have told me about the costs and financial stress of having to do mandatory placement. Paid prac provides a bit of help. More than 58,500 students have benefited so far.

Bullying in schools is a big problem. With the internet, it means that bullying follows kids from school to home, and everyone can see what is happening. There is no escape. This is why the government commissioned the Anti-Bullying Rapid Review. Last October, the education ministers adopted the review's recommendations. We announced $10 million to help fast-track the implementation of the review's findings. They agreed to a national plan that includes all schools taking initial steps to respond to bullying within two school days. We want children and their families to feel confident that bullying will be managed. The Albanese Labor government is delivering on our commitment to build a better and fairer education system.

Leon Rebello (McPherson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion today as the beneficiary of the Australian public school system. I know I'm a new member—I've been here for about nine to 10 months—but what really surprises me is the number of motions that come through this place that are merely congratulatory of the government or government led motions that congratulate themselves on various things. This one is no different. They're congratulating themselves on their investment in Australian public schools.

Australian public schools have an incredible role to play in educating our next generation. Across my electorate of McPherson, we have some incredible public schools and public school communities, and I know that there are many people in this place, on all sides of the chamber, who are the beneficiaries of that. But the one thing I would say to the government—I'd say it in relation to the public school system but also in relation to other forms of expenditure—is that, just because the government is funding something or increasing funding, it doesn't mean that the results are going to follow. If we look at history, that is exactly what we've seen.

In preparing for today's speech, I thought I'd take a look online to see where we're at as a country in terms of two things. Firstly, it's looking at the level of education and education standards in this country. Secondly, it's in relation to our teachers and their satisfaction levels, and our ability, as a country, to retain them in the profession but also to attract new people to the profession of teaching.

On the first front, there were stats that came out last year which spoke about our NAPLAN results, and we've seen NAPLAN results again showing that roughly one-third of students are not meeting expectations in literacy and numeracy. That concern is amplified when you look at students in remote areas, Indigenous students and people who are experiencing disadvantage, who are even further behind their peers.

On the second front, we look at teachers. I hear this all too often in my seat when I speak to people who are involved with the profession, when I visit schools and when I speak to parents who engage with teachers. There are clearly some significant issues in our ability to attract them to the profession in the first place but also in our ability to keep them there. According to recent data from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, up to 30 per cent of teachers are considering leaving the profession before retirement age. This comes at a time when student numbers are soaring and academic outcomes are slipping.

In 2022, under the Labor government, we saw federal, state and territory education ministers agree on a National Teacher Workforce Action Plan. Again, we see plans and funding. What are the actual results? That was aimed at improving teacher supply, retaining teachers, revamping initial teacher education and elevating the profession. Now we're four years on from that, and where are we at? Research has shown that the stressors that are leading teachers to quit the profession are only worsening.

So I'd say to the government, on yet another self-congratulating motion by them, that the thing that actually affects the lives of Australians is the actual results of what we do in this place. Saying we're going to do things, committing to doing things and even funding is not always, in and of itself, an end goal. I'd say to the government that, instead of putting focus on the fact that they're putting extra funding into this space, we should spend our time here—and we've got limited time in this place—identifying where the gaps are and strategically identifying how we can fill those gaps, because throwing money at a problem is not always going to be an end in and of itself. I'd be more than happy to come here when we see those stats turning the other direction. If the government wants to move a congratulatory motion, we can do it then.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of this motion. I do so because of the history of the last 20-odd years, which has seen the actual defunding of schools. It has taken two lots of Labor governments—the Gillard government and this particular government—to increase the funding for public schools. We saw a system under the Howard government that fully funded private schools but totally ignored public schools, and schools in my electorate suffered. They suffered immensely—schools like Woodville Gardens School; Cowandilla Primary School, my own junior primary school that I attended; Sturt Street Community School; Gilles Street Primary School; Challa Gardens Primary School; Parkside Primary School; Plympton Primary School; Torrensville Primary School; and Blair Athol North Birth-Year 6 School. These are some of the schools that actually needed funding. When I would visit these schools, I would see the shortfalls.

What we have done since being in government is ensure that schools are appropriately funded. This particular government has not only seen the funding of schools and the signing of agreements to ensure that all this will take place—and it will take time, of course—but also ensured that there are goals attached to the funding—in other words, retention rates and teachers being able to ensure that children are completing what's required to go on to the next grade.

This is all about creating opportunities where there otherwise might not be any. We know that, if you want to make change in someone's life, all the research points towards education. If you give someone the decency of a good education, you turn their lives around. One way of perhaps changing the generational cycle of poverty is by giving someone education, by changing the entire community by giving a community education and by changing the whole nation and the direction it's taking by giving them an equal opportunity to education. That is so important. As members of parliament, we have responsibilities for health and for the security of the nation, but education is right up there and should be up there, because it changes the nation, it changes people's lives and it turns around people's lives.

We also have some very good educators, teachers who are undervalued, teachers who give their all, where they try to create the opportunity that might otherwise not exist. I'm sure if I asked each and every one in this place a question about how a teacher has changed their life, they would all have a story about a particular teacher. In my case, I had two great teachers. I may not be standing here today if it weren't for them. One was Rod Sawford, who was the federal Labor member for Port Adelaide. He was my primary school teacher, and I stayed in touch with him for many years. The other one was John Trainer, who became speaker in the state parliament after being a schoolteacher and someone that actually helped me in my political career. So teachers have a special role as well, and we need to support them.

This is why this Better and Fairer Schools Agreement matters so deeply. It's the most significant new investment in public education ever made by an Australian government—$16.5 billion over the next decade and a further $50 billion in the decade after that. That's a commitment that is putting money where it's required. Those schools that I mentioned in my electorate desperately need that money to be able to educate those kids and turn their lives around and do all that they can for them. But this agreement is not simply about money, as I said. It comes with clear targets for attendance, for literacy, for numeracy and for students finishing high school. That completion rate is so important. It comes with practical, evidence based reforms to help achieve those goals. That includes phonics and numeracy checks to identify children who need early support. It's about identifying the kids that are falling behind or need that support early on and ensuring that they get that support that's required to keep them right through to completion dates. It also includes small-group tutoring to help students to catch up and keep up, and it includes reforms that recognise one critical truth—student success depends on teacher wellbeing. We need to respect teachers, and we need to ensure that teachers have the resources that they require. (Time expired)

Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let's get real. What I'm increasingly becoming frustrated with in relation to this government is the obsession with announcements—record funding this, record funding that—without any focus on outcomes. We as legislators in this place should be focused on outcomes, not announcements. That is certainly why I came to public life. Ultimately, Australians don't live on announcements. They live on outcomes. They live on results.

In my electorate, I represent one of the most diverse communities in the country. That diversity is something that I'm proud of, but it also comes with real challenges. I have communities facing entrenched disadvantage, generational welfare dependence and some of the lowest education outcomes in Australia. In fact, Grey is ranked 146 out of 150 in Australia, and that is simply not good enough. And yet, despite all this so-called record funding, the data is going backwards. The evidence is going backwards. I have schools where attendance rates are sitting at 66 per cent. That is not just a statistic; that is a warning sign. That is thousands of children missing out on the most basic foundations for a meaningful life—education. Education is not optional. It is a precursor to opportunity, to employment, to dignity and to breaking cycles of disadvantage. If attendance is failing and outcomes are declining, then no amount of press releases about funding can mask the truth that the system is not working for regional Australians.

What I want to see from this government is not more announcements but accountability. Show us the outcomes. Show us the improvement. Show us the data that proves lives are actually getting better. If we continue down this path, where success is measured in how much is spent rather than what is achieved, we will not only fail these communities but entrench their disadvantage even further. And, in doing so, we will make our economy less productive and place even more pressure on Australians already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

Labor talks a big game on education, but the reality on the ground is different. Regions are being left behind. Have any of those opposite been to these remote or regional communities—Bute, Kadina, Port Augusta, Koonibba, Coober Pedy?

Costs are rising fast. In regional South Australia, the cost of an independent education has hit an average of $242,000. Even a 'free' government school in regional SA now costs parents over $95,000 across the child's schooling life when you add up uniforms, camps, transport and associated costs. These numbers, of course, consider 13 years of education, but, even divided per year, it is significant, especially when you consider these are not elite schools. These are not boarding schools. When energy prices skyrocket—when electricity is up 40 per cent and gas is up 42 per cent—these school have no choice but to ask families to pay more. They are paying for Labor's inflation.

It's not just schools. Child care is struggling. In the electorate of Grey, again, we have the worst access to child care in Australia. There are 23 council areas in my electorate with almost no services. This causes parents to leave the workforce and make our local staff shortages even worse. Today, you need two incomes to raise a family, and, if there's no child care in your local community, it puts pressure on your local businesses. Recent data shows that in September 2025 over 3,600 childcare services were charging above the fee cap, which is almost double what we saw in 2022. This is not the fault of our local providers. It is the result of Labor's economic mismanagement.

After four years, this government owns the economy, but we have the highest inflation in the developed world. It's being driven by decisions made here in Canberra. Government spending is at a 40-year high. This keeps inflation high, which keeps interest rates high. Regional families cannot afford another four years of Labor. We need a government that understands that 'tyranny of distance' isn't just a phrase; it's a line item in a family budget that is currently in the red.

The coalition is focused on the basics: cutting red tape, beating inflation and getting energy prices down. We need support for our regional schools and students. (Time expired)

Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in support of this motion, which is deeply personal for me on a number of levels. It's also personal for every Australian because it speaks to this government's deliberate policy agenda that is directed at strengthening Australia's education system—making it fairer, more affordable, more accessible and more attractive as a career option. We need more teachers, and this government, led by the PM and the Minister for Education, want to see this happen.

Firstly, I went to many different public schools around South Australia. Frankly, I found it disappointing that, prior to 2022 when we came to government, no public school outside the ACT was fully funded. But this has changed with a 180-degree turn. Through the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, we're delivering an additional $16.5 billion in Commonwealth funding to public schools over the next decade.

The member for Grey claimed this was just a funding announcement, which is wholly incorrect. This funding arrangement is linked to outcomes, to improving literacy and numeracy standards, to increased mental health support for students and to school attendance. We've seen that school attendance is increasing. In 2025, it was 88.8 per cent.

Secondly, almost 10 years ago, I completed a master of teaching in secondary education as one of those pesky mature aged students who sits up the front and asks too many questions. I did a number of pracs as part of this degree. I was fortunate that, when I did these pracs I was employed as a lawyer, so I had access to annual leave from my job, which I took at half pay to cover my living expenses whilst I was out on placement. I also had a very supportive employer—a shout-out to ASC. But not everyone is in that position. Placements are full time, and they run for weeks. Until now, students on placement just had to fend for themselves, and, when you stop work to do your placement, the bills don't stop. If you do a rural placement, which many students do, not only do the bills keep rolling in but you probably have to fund extra costs for your time away, not least of all accommodation. The feedback from students was that they could afford their degree but they couldn't afford a placement.

So, for the first time ever, the Australian government is delivering paid prac for nursing, teaching, midwifery and social work students while they do their mandatory placements. So far, this $338.60-per-week payment has helped just under 60,000 students.

Finally, on bullying in schools, in my first speech in the House of Representatives I shared my experience of being bullied in primary school. Although, after years and years and years, I was able to move forward from it, the scars and damage to confidence and self-esteem have never quite left me completely. We know that now, with the internet and social media, bullying is getting worse, not better. Kids are suffering all day at school and then after school and on weekends, often very publicly. That suffering is sometimes catastrophic and irreparable, which I describe as a tragedy. But, for some affected kids and their families, that word is an understatement.

So I commend the Minister for Education and his commissioning of the Anti-Bullying Rapid Review, and I also personally thank him for briefing me on the review's progress and recommendations. The review attracted over 1,700 submissions from teachers and from students and their families, and education ministers around the country quite rightly adopted the review's recommendations in October 2025, with a key recommendation being that schools commence action within two school days of becoming aware of a bullying complaint or incident. In addition, we have made a $10 million investment to help fast-track the implementation of the review's findings. This will be dedicated to developing resources to help prevent and address bullying and funding a national awareness campaign. The more awareness and attention we can bring to this issue and the more we call it out for what it is, which is completely unacceptable, the better placed we will be to ensure that kids can go to school and that parents can send their children to school confident that bullying will be identified and addressed. There is no place for bullying in schools, and I'm proud to stand with the education minister as he seeks to address the causes and ensure that bullying is managed appropriately across the education spectrum.

Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the start of the school year, and I thank the teachers, the principals and the support staff for all their work in classrooms across Australia. The coalition supports strong public schools, but we don't accept Labor's claim that spending announcements alone equal reform and better outcomes.

On Labor's record investment claims, funding announcements are not the same as delivery in classrooms. Australian schools are already highly funded by international standards, and that's good, but students have been going backwards in literacy, numeracy and engagement. So more money without accountability does not guarantee better results for students. Despite the claims of Labor, most public schools will still not reach 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard even at the end of the agreement period. The simple fact is that annual school funding nearly doubled on the coalition's watch, from around $13 billion in 2013 to over $20 billion in 2022. That is the coalition's record of investing in school education—virtually a doubling of annual school funding in nine years. Labor continues to claim this was a cut, but that is a falsehood.

On teachers and workforce shortages, teachers deserve respect, support and safe classrooms, and Labor talks about valuing teachers, but workload, burnout and classroom disruption are driving people out of the profession, and we've got to find ways to keep them in. Teacher shortages are being felt most acutely in regional, rural and remote schools, but there are a number of initiatives to try and address this, such as Teach For Australia and the Nexus program, which I've been involved with.

On teaching incentives and training measures, encouraging people into teaching is important, but getting them to stay is the real challenge. Paid prac and scholarships will not fix shortages if graduates enter classrooms that are unsafe, unsupported and overwhelmed. State governments have a huge role to play in making sure that classrooms are safe, supported and not overwhelmed. The coalition believes teacher training must focus on classroom readiness, behaviour management and practical skills. Bullying, as the previous speaker said, is a real concern. It's unacceptable and must be addressed consistently and decisively. National frameworks mean little if schools lack the authority and support to enforce standards. Clear discipline, early intervention and parental engagement are essential to safe learning environments.

On fairness and equity, a truly fair education system recognises that regional and disadvantaged students face higher costs and fewer options. Equity means funding that follows need, supports choice and delivers opportunity, not 'one size fits all' agreements that are designed and delivered from Canberra. Parents deserve real choice across government, Catholic and independent schools. My mother, who had an exemplary 40 years in the public school system as a teacher, wanted me to go to a public school, and my father wanted me to go to a Catholic boarding school. In the end, I did a bit of both, and they both had their positives.

In closing, the coalition supports public education and teachers, but we will not pretend that a spending announcement equals success. Our focus remains on student outcomes, teacher support, classroom safety and genuine accountability of the system. Australian families deserve an education system that delivers results, not just slogans.

Renee Coffey (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Education is very close to my heart. My passion for education led me to complete my teaching qualification, and I later spent many years working at the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, where I saw firsthand how education can open doors and change lives. I'm also a parent of two school-aged children, so, like many parents, I know the rhythms and realities of school life. I know the joy that comes when a child grows in confidence. I know how much families value a great teacher, and I know how important it is that every child in every Queensland classroom has the support they need to learn, belong and thrive.

I'm proud that the Albanese Labor government is building a better and fairer education system. Through the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, we are delivering the biggest new investment in Commonwealth funding for public schools ever. Nationally, that means an additional $16.5 billion over the next decade, with a further $50 billion in the decade after that. For Queensland, it means an extra $2.8 billion in Commonwealth funding over the next 10 years. This is a substantial investment in our state schools, our teachers and our students. Most importantly, it puts every public school on a path to full and fair funding.

What makes this agreement so significant is that it is not only about funding levels on paper; it's about linking funding to practical, evidence based reforms that will improve student outcomes. That includes phonics checks, numeracy checks, evidence based teaching and small-group tutoring for students who need extra support. That literacy focus is especially important to me. Reading is not simply one subject among many; it's the foundation that helps children engage with every other part of their learning. When children get a strong start in literacy, they are better able to participate, keep up and see themselves as capable learners.

I have seen that also in my own community through my Griffith Little Readers program. Coming into this role, it was important to me that any initiative I undertake within our school communities be sustainable, responsive to identified needs and focused on building the capacity and resources of the schools themselves. This is a program that is providing thousands of early reader books, decodable readers, to primary schools across our community. That's why I am personally funding up to $1,000 worth of decodable readers for each eligible primary school in our electorate of Griffith.

None of the important work that happens in our classrooms happens without our amazing teachers, who do some of the most important work in our community. They build skills, shape confidence, spark curiosity and help young people imagine what is possible for their future. The Albanese Labor government is taking action on teacher shortages through a national plan focused on improving teacher supply, strengthening initial teacher education, retaining the teachers we have, elevating the profession and planning for the future. We are investing $160 million in Commonwealth teaching scholarships. We're funding 4,000 additional university teacher-training places, supporting more places in the High Achieving Teachers Program and investing to reduce workload pressures so teachers and school leaders can spend more time on teaching and learning. This government is also delivering the biggest changes to teacher training in a generation.

We're delivering paid pracs. More than 20 years ago, I completed the coursework for my teaching degree, but, when it came time to do my final practicum, there was no way I could afford to give up work for that period of time and still pay my rent and other costs, so I had to make the very difficult decision to graduate with an arts degree and leave my education degree on the shelf for a little longer. It took me a couple of years of working and saving to return to university and finish my teaching qualifications. Too many students have told us that they could manage the study but struggle to afford the placement component of their degree. Now, for the first time, eligible teaching students can receive financial support of $338 per week while undertaking their mandatory placements. That might sound simple, but it addresses a very real barrier.

This is what a better and fairer education system looks like. That is what the Albanese Labor government is delivering, and I am proud to support it. So, the little people sitting at their desks today at Bulimba State School and Buranda State School and our impressive young adults opening their laptops at Cavendish Road State High School and Coorparoo Secondary College continue to get a world-class education, and our young people continue to receive the support they need to learn, belong and thrive.

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.