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

I thank the member for Page for her question. I know how passionate she is about Closing the Gap. She has seen significant investment in her electorate, improving 29 libraries, 19 multipurpose halls and nine science and language centres in education. But for Indigenous students, whether they are in the member's electorate or around Australia, the delivery of additional support under A National Plan for School Improvement will be absolutely critical.

It is National Reconciliation Week, and I know that schools around the country will be embarking on a range of different activities to highlight that important event. I was with Minister Macklin, Minister Dreyfus, the Leader of the Opposition and others on Sunday morning in Melbourne at the start of the Journey to Recognition. When we look at education and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, we can take some heart that we have intermittent progress in some areas. We are seeing some good gains in some areas in reading and numeracy at rates of improvement that are welcome. Likewise, we are seeing some good levels of attainment for Indigenous students as they finish year 12. But it is still patchy and there are some very big challenges in front of us, in particular if we look at the average performance of Indigenous students in reading and numeracy. They are two to three years below the average of other students in the nation. In the Northern Territory, the gap is equivalent to around four years.

These are the reasons why we need a loading to specifically support Indigenous students. That was part of the Gonski recommendations and it is part of A National Plan for School Improvement which would see $5.5 billion of the total public funds directed to support around 200,000 Indigenous students in around 8,000 schools. Of course, this is part of the higher expectations that many in the community and in the teaching sectors want to see for Indigenous students: kids making the effort, families committed to education. Particularly, we need a plan that provides the structure, the certainty and the funding support to deliver reforms over time that will make a difference for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. In short, for these students, education is a passport out of poverty. It is particularly important that we have targeted investment and things like individual learning plans, making sure that we have the specific support in the early years of school for these students so they go on to be confident learners. New South Wales, incidentally, has shown the way by signing up to our plan and delivering a better deal for almost 54,000 Aboriginal students in that state.

I think we agree that Indigenous people can no longer not be recognised in our Constitution, and we understand that building a better life for Indigenous students has its foundation in school, but we now need A National Plan for School Improvement that delivers that commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. (Time expired)

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