Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Primary Healthcare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

More than 20 years ago South Australia designated four high schools as adult re-entry sites. Over the last 20 years these sites have continued under Labor and Liberal state governments. These schools have transformed lives. They have offered people a second chance at a high school education. In the most recent South Australian budget the Labor state government decided that, for people who are aged 21 and over, adult re-entry will no longer be an option—it will no longer be supported by the state Labor government. Hamilton Secondary College in my electorate is one of these schools. It is a school which has really focused on adult re-entry and has given many people an opportunity to get another start—people who did not have a good experience at school to begin with.

This decision has been made in order to save $20 million over three years. It is one of the biggest cuts in the state government’s education budget. It is short-sighted and has been poorly considered. It says a lot about the modern Labor Party that they are actually cutting education to people who left school early and did not get those opportunities. The Labor Party talks a lot about social cohesion and about education and employment opportunities for people, yet by cutting adult re-entry these people will miss out. Adult re-entry was designed to give adults over the age of 21 a second chance. These are people who for reasons often beyond their own control—it could have been for financial, emotional or mental health reasons—did not complete school the first time round. For many of these students it takes a lot to go back to school; it takes a lot to go through the gates. They have made a decision to finish high school, to get an education, so they are in a better position to gain long-term employment and make a significant contribution to the community. Now the state government is saying that these people will not be supported—that these people are on their own.

On radio recently the state Minister for Education, Jay Weatherill, likened adult education to a WEA course. He was suggesting that these people were doing it as a hobby, as an interest, rather than as a second chance to get a foot in the door to further education. There has been significant public outcry over the government’s proposal. A number of constituents have contacted my office. The Australian Education Union has condemned the state government, saying that they are undercutting opportunities for thousands of South Australians and that this decision cuts across all concepts of access and opportunity.

I have met with staff at Hamilton Secondary College, a designated re-entry site in my electorate. There are more than 1,650 adults enrolled at Hamilton College; more than 80 per cent are 21 or over. Most of them are recipients of School Card, a means tested indexed allowance that acknowledges the need to support persons who are financially disadvantaged. The government’s decision will affect not just Hamilton but Marden Senior College, Para West Adult campus and Thebarton Senior College. Teachers at these colleges have built up expertise in adult education. That expertise will now be disbursed.

Ironically, at the same time the state government were announcing this $20 million cut to adult education we find that education bureaucrats from DECS were racking up a $100,000 entertainment bill, which is something like a sevenfold increase over five years. This is obscene. It says a lot about the modern Labor Party that they do not regard as a priority giving a second chance of education to people who are vulnerable or who are disadvantaged. It is time that the state Labor government revisited this decision. It is a poor decision. They have cut off opportunities for some of the poorest people in our community when they should be supporting these people having a second chance at education.