Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to have the minister in the chamber to consider the budget in detail, as I did with the previous minister, who did not answer my questions in detail but preferred to engage in rhetoric, which was unfortunate. I assume that this minister will have a better grasp of the portfolio than his predecessor in the consideration in detail. I have so many questions I could ask the minister about his unravelling portfolio, but I intend to start with the Australian Baccalaureate. I have a series of questions which I will ask for five minutes, and then he might want to answer them or take them on notice and answer them all at the end. Each minister usually makes their own decision about how they wish to handle it.

The fact sheet on the Australian Baccalaureate, 'A world class qualification for a world class education', claims that this certificate is needed for 'high-performing students who want an internationally recognised qualification that measures a variety of achievements'. My questions are: was a research report, feasibility study or any other type of report commissioned before this announcement was made that a new certificate for high-performing students was needed? Secondly, how is this certificate intended to benefit students? Thirdly, why is an Australian Baccalaureate needed when there is an International Baccalaureate offered by schools for high-performing students, and won't the Australian Baccalaureate compete for the same cohort of students that currently undertake the International Baccalaureate?

Under this initiative, high-performing students would be 'electing to be certified for the award, similar to the way students can currently elected to undertake the International Baccalaureate'. My questions are: has there been any contact between the government and the International Baccalaureate's head office in Geneva to obtain details on how students elect to undertake the IB? Secondly, have any potential patent issues been discussed if the Australian Baccalaureate is to emulate the IB in this respect or any other respect?

The concept of one national senior secondary certificate is not a new idea. In 2006, a detailed research report to government, Australian Certificate of Education: exploring a way forward, examined the feasibility options for the introduction of a national senior certificate. The report looked at various options, including whether such a national certificate should be modelled on the International Baccalaureate. The ACER recommended against developing a baccalaureate-style certification in Australia, given the 'obvious implications for current state and territory certificates':

Schools and students wishing to go on to tertiary study would be faced with a choice between the ACE, the state/territory certificate, and the IB … Program. If the ACE were to become a preferred qualification for university-bound students across Australia, then existing state certificates are likely to take on a lower status as qualifications for other students participating in the senior years of school. Such an outcome may be undesirable.

My questions are as follows. First, has the nature of expert advice provided to government changed since 2006 such that it has led your government to decide that a baccalaureate-style certificate in Australia is desired? Second, how will the government ensure that existing state and territory qualifications are not be seen to be of a lower status after the Australian baccalaureate is introduced? Third, if the Australian baccalaureate is to provide at a price tag of $7.3 million rigorous certificates that are academic in nature only for high-achieving students, what are the benefits for other young people, who do not intend to pursue tertiary study?

Fourth, the ACER found in 2006 that it was unlikely that an Australian certificate of education would ever become an international certificate in the sense of an IB diploma program, so my question is: how is the AB proposed to be internationally recognised—formally or informally and with what countries?

Fifth, it appears that I am not alone in having difficulty understanding why this new voluntary baccalaureate-style qualification is needed. The Australian Secondary Principals Association's president, Sheree Vertigan, said:

… she was unsure if the certificate would flow naturally within the school system.

"The certificate has been developed for students looking to further their academic learning and is designed for high-achieving students" …

Specifically, she asked, and I ask on her behalf, why doesn't the national curriculum address that need rather than introducing another thing on top?

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