Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Independent Contractors, Tourism and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to raise an issue of some concern to me. Over the past week I have received countless emails from parents, teachers and school chaplains regarding the future of the National School Chaplaincy Program. I know it is a widespread feeling across the community that schools are among our society’s key institutions. We recognised this as the former government, and that is the reason why we decided to support the National School Chaplaincy Program, because we believed that it was crucial to instil in young Australians, in our children, a sense of value and wellbeing and to nurture their spirituality.

Over the past 2½ years, federal funding has been in place to support schools in this regard with the National School Chaplaincy Program. In my electorate alone, 12 schools have received funding totalling some $720,000 to support the vital work that school chaplains do in nurturing young Australians on their path to adulthood. Ten of the 12 schools that received funding from the coalition are government schools, which emphasises the popularity of this program in the public sector as well as in private schools. Among them are schools that are non-denominational in nature, which just underscores the broad support for the School Chaplaincy Program.

The three-year funding for the National School Chaplaincy Program is scheduled to end at the end of this financial year. I am concerned that, as a result of this, school communities, including chaplains, teachers, parents and students, have been left in the dark with no guarantee that the chaplaincy services program will continue beyond 1 July 2010. This is concerning because of the fundamentally important work that school chaplains do. Figures show that 97 per cent of school principals who have engaged a chaplain strongly support the program and recognise the benefit for their school communities.

On behalf of my community, I implore the Rudd Labor government to stand up and deliver some leadership and to provide funding for the National School Chaplaincy Program. This program does deserve government support. It is an important program that makes a real difference in young people’s lives. The fact that so many public schools, including non-denominational schools, have embraced the National School Chaplaincy Program simply underscores the important role that it plays in providing a clear direction forward on what is acceptable in terms of community values but also in nurturing the spirituality of Australia’s young people. That is fundamental for Australia’s young people going forward.

Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! In accordance with standing order 193 the time for constituency statements has concluded.