Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I want to add a voice of support for the Indie School network of schools across this country that do exceptional work for students who have been disengaged from the mainstream education system. I will disclose at this point that I have a family member who works as a social worker within one of those schools, which gives me some insights into the valuable work that they do.

Under the current model that the government is running, their funding is under serious threat as we speak. As an organisation that is growing and is enrolling more students, it stands to lose up to $5 million in funding at the end of this year. The government, to its credit, did give them some additional support for this year, but their problem hasn't been resolved, and it should be. The government should fix this.

I attended the graduation at one of the schools last year. Thirty per cent of the students in that school graduated back into mainstream school, a brilliant result for kids who are really troubled. Another student, who had enrolled in the school effectively non-verbal and in a wheelchair, came to the dais. You could see how hard she was working to make a speech to those assembled at that graduation ceremony. It was a huge effort for her to speak to a crowd, because that was not what she was used to doing. She completed her speech, she walked back to her place and she did a jig. It was heartwarming to see the transformation in that student because of the support that she'd received at that school.

Those schools deserve the support of the government. They should not be under threat of losing $5 million in funding. The government needs to fix this.