Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Kids go off the rails, not only Indigenous kids in year 9 but kids more generally, but Indigenous children have been identified as needing specific assistance at this time. That is one of the reasons why year 9 has been selected as one of those periods when Indigenous children need particular assistance. A statement on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website notes that education is one of the key factors in ensuring that the lives of young Indigenous Australians are improved. It notes that many studies have:

... shown that improved health and socioeconomic status are directly linked to educational participation and achievement.

The comments go on to say, however, that a number of factors affect the rates of involvement of Aboriginals in education. These include difficulties in accessing educational facilities, financial hardships and community and cultural pressures. The website also says:

While targeted programs aim to improve outcomes in some educational areas, Indigenous students continue to engage in education and training at lower rates of participation and achieve lower levels of educational attainment than for all Australian students.

The initiatives we are debating in the bill before the House today aim to have a positive impact in changing what I think all of us would accept is an unacceptable situation. The Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Amendment Bill 2006 does provide for significant funds to be directed towards education and training programs that assist Indigenous students to achieve their full potential. It is worthy to note that while the Indigenous community makes up something like 1.9 per cent of Australia’s population, Indigenous students—regrettably—only make up 1.2 per cent of our university population.

The Australian government already has several programs in place to address this underrepresentation in higher learning environments. These programs include the Indigenous Support Program, which arranges for grants to go to higher education institutions to help them meet the specific needs of Indigenous students; the Indigenous Staff Scholarship Program, which has the aim of supporting and encouraging Indigenous staff at our higher education facilities who assist Indigenous students to ensure that they complete their courses; and the establishment of the Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council which, among other things, aims to develop strategies to help increase the proportion of Indigenous Australians on staff at higher education facilities and also to enhance their career paths. These are just three general examples of higher education initiatives for Indigenous Australians through the Department of Education, Science and Training.

The Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Amendment Bill 2006 will add to those initiatives by targeting school students and those in training during the 2006 to 2008 calendar years. The initiatives include $14.5 million in additional funds to provide tutorial support services to Indigenous students in year 9. It is interesting to note that the proportion of non-Indigenous students who progress from year 9 to year 10 is around the 98 to 99 per cent, which is pretty high—close to 100 per cent. It is almost unthinkable that a student would drop out at that stage but, sadly, the proportion of Indigenous students who make that same transition is around 89 per cent. With these figures in mind, the year 9 students are regarded as a key group that may benefit from additional support services that will help them make the transition to year 10 education.

In addition, $11.2 million is being provided toward expanding the Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme to include those students enrolled in vocational and technical education programs. By widening the net that this tutorial program covers, it is believed that Indigenous students enrolled in vocational education will be encouraged to continue with their training. The upshot of this initiative is that it is hoped that it will help encourage young Indigenous Australians who are neither employed nor involved in work related training to enrol and remain in vocational educational programs.

Eighteen school based sporting academies will be funded for Indigenous Australians at a cost of $9.1 million. This is designed to help male and female Indigenous students become more involved in academic pursuits through sporting programs. Many people in our community may not be aware that sporting programs can also have a positive effect on the health and fitness of young people, their self-confidence and their general social and leadership skills. The bill will also provide $7.3 million for Indigenous youth festivals, and this will promote healthy, active and positive lifestyles among Indigenous Australians.

Finally, this bill will assist up to 1,000 young Indigenous Australians in remote and desert regions who are involved with unproductive and damaging petrol sniffing and other substance abuses with a $1.5 million funding allocation. These initiatives amount to some $43.6 million dedicated to improving the resolve of Indigenous students and their parents and giving them additional support to remain enrolled in schooling and vocational training programs until completion. If we are able to achieve that outcome it will assist Indigenous students to be prepared for the workforce and give them greater opportunities in the general community.

So while it might be okay for the Labor Party to come in here and play politics, to criticise the government and damn us with faint praise and to say that it is great that we are giving this money but that there ought to be more, the Australian community does require all us to be positive and to give credit where credit is due.

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