Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

We've clarified that schools don't want the ability to discriminate against students, and I think it's also now been raised with us that the schools need to consider whether they actually want the ability to discriminate against teachers as well.' And then Speers goes: 'What is your position on that? Do you think schools should be able to sack teachers for being gay?' The shadow spokesperson: 'We've got Louise Pratt, who is our spokesperson on equality, and Mark Dreyfus, who is our shadow Attorney.' It goes on and on and on and on.

Eventually we get back to this: 'Well, we're back to the Ruddock review. It's just spent months listening to people—15,000 submissions. You've got a number of very sensible and thoughtful people on that review. Could we please just take a deep breath, see the report, see the logic that has taken them to where they are, see whether there's any room for movement from the recommendations they have made. I don't support discrimination. I think discrimination on the basis of sexuality is wrong. But I also understand that you're talking about organisations that have a particular ethos, and they want to reflect that ethos in the way they conduct the work of the organisation. So, you know—calm, deep breath. Let's just work through it methodically.' That is exactly what the government wants to do. We want to work through this methodically.

Our government knows what it wants to do and we will be taking action. As the Prime Minister announced on 13 October, our government will introduce amendments as soon as practicable to make it clear that no student of a religious school should be expelled on the basis of their sexuality. Our government does not support expulsion of students from religious non-state schools on the basis of their sexuality. This view is widely shared by religious schools and communities across the country. Our government is focused on protecting the best interests of children.

As the Prime Minister has said, our focus is to ensure that the children at the centre of these issues are at the centre of consideration. The law that we currently have, which the Labor Party brought in, actually doesn't do that. The government, more broadly, is considering the religious freedom review. The government will release the report with a comprehensive and balanced response to ensure the needs, interests and protection of the child are central. The government will consider recommendations concerning employment related decisions of educational institutions established for religious purposes as part of its consideration of the review. This is a very important fact: what the government wants to do is exactly what the shadow minister said on David Speers on Sunday: work through this methodically, work through the process and look at the recommendations. As the Prime Minister has said, he wants to make sure that, as Prime Minister, he has time to look at it. He wants to take it through cabinet processes, which is the right thing to do, and he wants to make sure that the government has a response to all the recommendations.

I also wanted to make it very clear, while we're talking about education and students and teachers, that our focus as a government is also on ensuring that we look after our teachers and make sure that we continually improve teaching quality. It's why we established the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group, to provide advice on how teacher education courses could be improved. We are now implementing its recommendations to deliver a teacher education system that will ensure all teaching graduates are classroom ready, no matter where they study. These reforms are strengthening the selection criteria for entry into courses, quality assurance of teacher education courses and professional experience placements. From next year, all pre-service teachers must complete a robust and rigorous assessment of teaching practice against the graduate teaching standards as a requirement of graduation.

Our government has also introduced literacy and numeracy tests for all trainee teachers, to ensure graduate teachers have personal literacy and numeracy skills equivalent to the top 30 per cent of the Australian adult population. From next year, all primary initial teacher education students will graduate with a broad range of teaching skills and knowledge as well as a subject specialisation. The government's High Achieving Teachers Program will bolster our future teaching workforce by supporting the growth of alternative pathways into teaching for high-quality individuals with the skills, knowledge and commitment to become high-quality teachers. National induction guidelines and supporting resources have been developed to support the successful induction of teachers into the profession. Our government has established the Australian Teacher Workforce Data strategy to improve the quality of data which will help enable governments to better understand their teaching workforce and better manage workforce needs.

So, in conclusion, ensuring Australian students get the education that empowers them to be the best they can be is our focus. The Labor Party should join with the government, make sure that we end discrimination when it comes to students, and then in good faith enter into discussions with the government when the Ruddock review is released, so that we can consider all matters pertinent to that review at that time.

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