Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In 1945 Kim Beazley Sr, then a new member, remarked that he was glad to see that the Commonwealth government had set up an office of education, and he hoped that the action would one day lead to federal aid to education.

The schooling resource standard, the SRS, is an estimate of how much total public funding a school needs to meet its students' educational needs. The standard is based on the Gonski review commissioned by the Gillard government, which was delivered in 2011. As a federation of Commonwealth and six state governments, we have consistently failed since that challenge by Gonski in 2011, some 13 years ago, to meet the schooling resource standard. Let's just dwell for a moment on what that means. It means 13 years of failure to meet what the review described as a minimum standard, not the maximum standard. Thirteen years—that's a whole generation of schoolkids who have been underfunded in our public schools since the advice received by government, leaving aside the years running back to Kim Beazley Sr's stated hope.

In my first speech, I underlined the importance of a superb education system that is accessible and free. Meeting minimum funding for public education is the starting point for this. So I was so pleased to be able to announce to my Hasluck community at the end of January that the Albanese Labor government and the Cook WA Labor government have come to an agreement which means that, over the next two years, all public schools in WA will meet the schooling resource standard. I am proud that the most disadvantaged schools will be funded first, seeing an increase from next year, with all Western Australian public schools fully funded by 2026. All up, we are looking at an additional $1.6 billion invested in public schools in WA. Every child in a public school in Western Australia in 2026 will attend a fully funded school. This is an important step and one which I hope every other state, in concert with the Commonwealth, will emulate.

Public schools must be fully funded. Family fortunes cannot be allowed to determine the extent of a young student's fortunes. I want to see a public school system that is so healthy that every child coming out is brimming with confidence—the confidence to go to their chosen TAFE or university course or to choose any course they feel drawn to and are qualified for, the confidence to start their own business, if that is what they carry a flame for, and the confidence to travel anywhere in the world and feel prepared for what they might find. I want some of them to turn around after having met the world with that confidence and decide that they want to teach our young people, just like the teachers they fondly remember.

Gonski urged a needs based and sector-blind funding model for education. The meeting of needs, which this excellent agreement does for WA, is crucial. Funding increases of this order can make a real difference to the way in which schools can tackle disadvantage and help to close the gap. Schools like Ellen Stirling Primary School in Ellenbrook, Aveley Primary School and Swan View Primary School might look at ways to employ more education assistants to engage in one-on-one learning. Schools like Moorditj Noongar Community College might look at extra ways to bridge cultural and family experiences to support student learning. Schools like Falls Road Primary School in Lesmurdie and Herne Hill Primary School might look at ways to make their already growing STEM programs more connected with institutions outside their schools. The possibilities are endless, and with our support and with proper funding I know that our schools and our teachers will find a way.

I am also pleased that the funding increase has been tied to reforms aimed at closing the gap and reforms focused on real and measurable improvements for student outcomes in academics and wellbeing. The reforms being discussed follow on from the review commissioned by Minister Clare and published in December last year which recommended that we engage in reform in relation to equity, wellbeing and teacher workforce development. We are facing a world, as Minister Clare has noted, where finishing year 12 and completing some sort of tertiary education at TAFE or uni will be fundamental to accessing the jobs of the future. This funding agreement is an investment in that future.

I pay special tribute to Minister Clare today. He was elected to this place in 2007, saying the following:

Our education system is the most powerful cause for good in this country. Run well, it can ensure that every child has the opportunity to reach their potential. It is the great equaliser in an unequal world.

The minister can be proud of the success he has achieved, and I know his ambition runs deeper still, as does mine, as does this government's.

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