James Bidgood (Dawson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Schools Assistance Bill 2008. The bill will provide funding for non-government schools from 2009 to 2012. The schooling debate has often focused on the competitive relationship between government and non-government schools that exists in Australia. The truth, however, is that there are schools that struggle with limited resources as they try to serve disadvantaged communities in both sectors.

The $28 billion in this bill is part of the government’s overall $42-billion minimum commitment for schools funding during 2009-12. In this legislation the Commonwealth is honouring its election commitments. Those commitments are to use the existing funding formula, based on socioeconomic status and the existing indexation formula, and to set funding levels and maintain or guarantee the current funding levels of all non-government schools during 2009-12 to ensure that no school loses a dollar and no school is worse off. State schools will not be worse off as a result of this bill. The Australian government is working through COAG on a new education agreement, which will deliver the funds promised to public schools. The federal government is committed to funding state schools and supporting state governments in running state schools in Australia. This bill is a major building block in building a fair, transparent national framework for schooling in Australia. It will meet Labor’s election commitments. It will help create a basis for reporting and accountability which is consistent across all schools in all sectors.

This separate non-government schools legislation for 2009-12 is required, firstly, to ensure that funding will be appropriated in time for payments to non-government schools in January 2009. Treasury legislation appropriating funding for all Commonwealth specific purpose payments, including funding to the states for government schools, will not commence until July 2009. Secondly, it will ensure that the Commonwealth can honour its election commitment that no school will be disadvantaged. The Commonwealth could not ensure this commitment if all schools funding was paid to the states under the national education agreement. Thirdly, this bill will allow time for the arrangements between the states and non-government schools to be put in place to ensure that the states will be able to deliver on outcomes across the entire schools system. The funding for government schools will be paid through states and territories. The intergovernmental agreement that delivers the funds will be called—

See this speech in context