Louise Markus (Greenway, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on a bill that is very close to my heart. The Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Amendment Bill 2006 sets us on a path that will improve opportunities for Indigenous students and, in the long term, contribute to the social and economic equality that we as a nation aspire to. As the Prime Minister said in a speech to the National Reconciliation Workshop in Canberra in 2005, the gulf between the first Australians and other Australians when considering economic and social outcomes is a measure of the distance we still have to travel. These gaps can only be closed by practical actions that deliver results, and it will be a work of generations.

The Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Amendment Bill 2006 is a further enhancement of strategies focused on assisting Indigenous youth. We are continuing on a path that, if we get it right, will influence in a positive way future generations of Indigenous Australians. I am privileged to be a member of a government that helps where help is needed most, that seeks to create opportunity for all, that creates opportunity for our youth and that, in so doing, builds for their future.

This bill provides additional tutorial assistance in schools and training programs, supports community festivals for health promotion, facilitates activities addressing substance abuse by Indigenous youth in remote regions and delivers school based sporting academies and related activities. The purpose of this bill is to increase funding by a net $43.6 million over the 2006-08 calendar years.

Supporting the bill and releasing the funds will result in an increase of $25.7 million in additional tutorial assistance for Indigenous school and vocational and technical education students; $9.1 million for school based sporting academies and related activities for Indigenous students; $7.3 million for Indigenous youth festivals, a component of the community festivals for health promotion program, which will reinforce the benefits of educational success and positive lifestyles for Indigenous young people; and $1.5 million to be used for discouraging petrol sniffing and substance abuse among Indigenous young people in the central desert and other remote regions. There is also more flexibility for that budget to be increased under special circumstances referred to in the act.

Currently in the electorate of Greenway there are approximately 2,345 Indigenous youth in high schools who may benefit from that assistance. In the 2001 census there were 2,039 Indigenous students in the Blacktown local government area, and the breakdown of that figure shows that 1,239 students were in primary schools, 585 in secondary schools, 161 in technical or further educational institutions and 54 in university or other tertiary institutions. The drop-off rate is stark and we need to reverse this trend. I have worked with many local Indigenous youth and youth workers and have come to know that the measures intended in this bill, if passed, have the potential to make some difference to Indigenous youth throughout Australia.

A revelation as to the size of the issue we are dealing with is found in the statistic that almost 40 per cent of Australia’s Indigenous population is 14 or under, compared with 20.4 per cent of Australia’s non-Indigenous population. The median age of all Indigenous people in Blacktown is 17 years of age. That is, there is basically double the number of children in the below 14 years age bracket who are Indigenous compared with children who are non-Indigenous. We desperately need to provide the majority of our children with positive role models, with targeted programs that will build esteem and a sense of value and with life and work skills so they can realise their potential and build a future for themselves.

Nationally, 40 per cent of Indigenous students progressed to year 12 in 2004, up from 29 per cent in 1996. The number of Indigenous students in vocational and technical education rose from 32,315 in 1996 to 62,726 in 2005. The proportion of Indigenous adults aged between 25 and 64 with a vocational or higher educational qualification has never been higher, and the proportion with a certificate or diploma is also up. Even so, there is indeed much more work to be done. I believe passionately that education is one of the keys to helping young people to reach their potential, to enable and facilitate them to rise above their circumstances, whether it be poverty, peer pressure, dysfunctional family background, personal disability or generational poverty.

The Prime Minister is also passionate about education. He said in a speech to business leaders in July this year that education offers the proven avenue of lasting hope for Indigenous young people. To fulfil that hope and achieve that education, to give Indigenous youth the same opportunities as everyone else, increased funding is critical in the areas of schooling, vocational and technical education and health related strategies. The Howard government is committed to developing the potential of Indigenous youth so they can make informed choices about how they relate and behave in the world.

I personally know many young Indigenous people in my electorate who can reach their potential. One young girl I was speaking to only a short while ago told me that her dream was to become a police officer. When I asked her what she thought about that, she said she felt that there was no hope for her. She believed that this was not an option for her. I challenged her and said that there was an opportunity to continue her education and to remain in school, that there was no reason why she could not achieve that. But informed choices will only come with knowledge, understanding, skills and values, which are the foundation stones of emerging adulthood. It is necessary for them to understand that they can reach their potential, that they do have something to contribute.

A starting point will be $14.5 million allocated to extend tutorial assistance. Tutorial assistance is already provided to Indigenous students in years 10, 11 and 12. This extra funding will be extended to encourage year 9 Indigenous students to go through and complete year 12. Year 9 is a critical year for all students, a time when many make the choice to drop out of school. Many of those who leave school at year 9 have poor literacy and numeracy skills which limit their post-school options, including employment opportunities. Students can access tutorial support of up to four hours per week, for up to 32 weeks in one school year, and the funding will be split between students enrolled in remote schools and students enrolled in non-remote schools. This action is intended to equip students with the necessary skills to consider further education or enhance job prospects.

That drop-out rates are a problem is demonstrated by the example of Greenway. Census figures from the 2001 census show that the number of people for whom year 10 was the highest level of schooling completed was 2,170. For years 11 and 12 that figure drops to 691. That is well over two-thirds of students who do not continue on to higher levels. The end result is the current figure of 42 per cent of Indigenous people aged between 18 and 24 years who are neither studying nor in the labour force, compared to 13 per cent of other Australians. That reality means our Indigenous community starts to lose ground after year 10.

This government is committed to bringing equality of opportunity to all. The tutorial funding program will continue to the year 2010. Over time, we hope the expanded tutorial assistance program will encourage students to stay on at school or continue their education in vocational or technical education courses leading to the attainment of relevant qualifications. To further that aim, an additional $11.2 million will be allocated to Indigenous students undertaking courses leading to the successful achievement of an Australian qualifications framework certificate level III or above, which will significantly increase chances of employment.

The bill also directs funding to sporting, recreational and cultural activities. In 2007 this initiative will enable more than 1,000 students, both boys and girls, to attend up to 12 sports academies, located within schools, which offer a range of sports and recreation activities. The funding will also cover related initiatives to address racism in sport, to promote cross cultural awareness, to showcase the contribution Indigenous people make to sporting life and to provide opportunities to participate in sporting carnivals. By the end of 2008 there will be some 18 academies in place and the number of Indigenous students attending will increase to an estimated 1,530 from every state and territory.

Indigenous sportsmen and women have represented Australia with honour and distinction at district, state, national and international events. The football codes, Rugby League and Australian Rules in particular, have long been a path to success as the young boys grow from youths to men. Those role models are there. The government, through this bill, is making a concerted effort to focus on programs that are proven to work to ensure that every young person gets the opportunity to build a future for themselves.

A working model of the sports academy initiative already exists in Western Australia. The Clontarf Foundation is a model for Indigenous engagement in education that has demonstrated significant and lasting outcomes for their students, both current and former. The Clontarf Foundation operates six football academies in partnership with, but not independent of, secondary schools. The model was developed by the foundation’s CEO, Mr Gerard Neesham, as a result of his experience with Aboriginal footballers and their families and his recognition that the football environment was one in which Aboriginal people excelled. He found that participation in football and related activities helped to develop positive behaviours and to reduce the prevalence of negative behaviour in those who were involved.

Some of the aims of the program for participants include attending school regularly, re-entering education after prolonged absences; achieving retention rates above state averages; enhancing self-esteem; using experience gained to make healthy lifestyle decisions, for example exercise, diet and nutrition; addressing alcohol and substance abuse; setting goals and persevering to achieve them; reducing criminal re-offending; achieving improved academic results; and developing a greater understanding of, and access to, the employment opportunities available to them. Importantly, Clontarf’s results speak for themselves. In 2004, approximately 270 young people participated, with the following results: an average attendance rate of 78 per cent, an average retention rate of 82 per cent and 83 per cent of graduates from the program achieving full-time work

It is the government’s aim to reflect those outcomes through its own sports academy initiative. The program will be rolled out nationally in partnership with national and state sporting bodies with strong affiliations with schools and in collaboration with state and territory governments. This initiative will ensure that more young Indigenous girls and boys have the chance to experience positive education and sports activities, with a view to improving their health, employment and education outcomes. Hopefully they will be inspired to swell the ranks of Indigenous sportsmen and women in the annals of Australia’s illustrious sporting history.

Another important feature of this bill is to provide $7.3 million for Indigenous youth festivals, with an emphasis on promoting healthy, positive lifestyles for young people. More than 30,000 primary and secondary aged students in remote and regional areas will participate in community based music, dance, art and career activities designed for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people. Positive events such as these provide an important mechanism for increasing community involvement in building the resilience of young people and for promoting wellbeing and healthy lifestyles. A program such as the one outlined can never be fully effective if it does not address the very serious matter of substance abuse, in particular petrol sniffing, by Indigenous youth. Effectively dealing with substance abuse requires a comprehensive, sustainable approach that includes education, justice, community support and health initiatives. The government is committed to providing education programs, and $1.5 million will be provided by this bill.

Under this bill diversionary and preventative education based projects that build upon the successes of the Australian government’s Partnership Outreach Education Model pilot will be introduced in the central desert and two other remote regions to help combat the critical issues of petrol sniffing and substance abuse. Up to 1,000 Indigenous young people will benefit from these projects, which will act as a safety net to help young Indigenous people in these regions who have dropped out of school.

This bill not only addresses educational and sporting opportunities and provides opportunities to engage in healthy, meaningful lifestyle events but it also will help to address the critical issue of substance abuse—an issue that holds back our children, Indigenous or not, and also impacts negatively on families. This bill offers a comprehensive package of measures that will assist, encourage and inspire a generation of our young Indigenous people. In line with this government’s philosophy, this package is a hand-up not a hand-out. It will give Indigenous young people the knowledge, skills and self-esteem to make better choices and to take their place as the leaders in their community. I commend this bill to the House.

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