Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Hansard source

I am happy to take that supplementary question from the member for Moreton. The fact is that we have put in place those measures and policies which deal with a range of issues that young people face in schools in Australia. That is about making sure they get the support they need in literacy and numeracy. It is about making sure they get the support they need from improving teacher quality. It is about making sure that parents and the school community have the information that they need—that is the My School website. It is about having national leadership and national standards to deliver the best possible education for young students. That is a national curriculum and that is national standards for teachers and for principals as well. It is also recognising that there are some tough issues for kids in schools, where things like bullying can have a real impact on the child's life in school and what happens afterwards. That is why a National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence, which we support, is particularly important.

I spoke about the National Safe Schools Framework. We need to have a national plan for school improvement which makes sure that the National Safe Schools Framework is embedded in the plans in every school, not only to lift the performance of students in their school but to make sure the school is doing every single thing it can so that the students' learning journey is the best it can possibly be. We are committed to that course of action.

See this speech in context