George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for the Arts and Sport) Share this | Hansard source

I thank honourable senators for their contributions. The Schools Assistance (Learning Together—Achievement Through Choice and Opportunity) Amendment Bill 2007 contains measures that will provide increased Australian government funding to meet the immediate needs of school communities throughout the nation. Under this government all Australian schools have been funded at record levels. The Australian government will provide a record estimated $33 billion in funding for Australian schools over the four years 2005-08. Funding to Australian schools has increased by close to 160 per cent, from $3.6 billion in 1996 to $9.3 billion in 2006-07. Through increased financial assistance to schools, particularly schools serving the neediest communities, the government seeks to improve the outcomes from schools for all Australian students.

State governments have primary responsibility for education. State governments own, operate and are the major source of funds for public schools, while the federal government supplements that funding as a percentage of the state investment. State governments accredit and regulate non-government schools, while the federal government provides the majority of public funding, so there is a shared responsibility between the state and federal governments.

It has been claimed that there is decreasing funding to state government schools. In fact, the opposite is true. The government has provided record levels of funding to public schools in every year since 1996, in total an increase of 118 per cent, while enrolments have increased over that time by only 1.2 per cent. It is also claimed that non-government schools are supported at the expense of government schools, but that is not the case. The government believes that it is every parent’s right to choose the best educational outcome for their child, and this government’s funding policies have provided parents with greater choice than ever before.

The fact is that funding follows enrolments. There has been a 21.5 per cent increase in enrolments in non-government schools since 1996. Even so, 67 per cent of students are still enrolled in public schools and they receive 75 per cent of total public funding, while 33 per cent are enrolled in non-government schools and they receive 25 per cent of total public funding.

Through this bill the highly successful Investing in Our Schools Program is being bolstered by an additional $181 million. Of this funding, an additional $127 million will be made available for state government schools and $54 million will be provided for non-government schools. The Investing in Our Schools Program has fulfilled a $1 billion election commitment to deliver projects that have been identified as a priority by school communities and to provide much-needed educational outcomes for students. Almost 90 per cent of state government schools throughout Australia have received funding through this program.

While the majority of students across the country are already benefiting from projects funded by the program, there remain many schools that have not yet applied or have only applied for smaller amounts of funding. The Australian government is targeting the additional funds to these schools to assist all Australian state government schools to benefit from the Investing in Our Schools Program. To give all state government schools the opportunity to access the new funding, state government schools which have received no funding or smaller amounts of funding will be able to apply for projects which will take their total approved grants from all rounds of the Investing in Our Schools Program up to $100,000. For non-government schools the additional funds are for grants of up to $75,000, targeted at schools that have received little or no funding under the program to date.

This government also makes a significant investment in school buildings and infrastructure under the capital grants program. This program is providing an estimated $1.7 billion over 2005-08 to assist with the building, maintenance and updating of schools throughout Australia. This includes an estimated $1.2 billion in capital grant funding for state and territory government schools and an estimated $480 million for Catholic and independent schools, not including the funding in this bill.

The bill will provide $11.7 million for capital funding for non-government schools for 2008. This funding is to maintain the existing level of funding. Without this amendment, capital funding for non-government schools for 2008 will decrease.

The final measure in this bill is to provide $9.445 million for the national projects element of the Literacy, Numeracy and Special Learning Needs Program for 2008. This is to provide continued funding to the end of the quadrennium. These national projects underpin this government’s efforts to ensure that education policy, school practice and classroom teaching are effective in raising the literacy and numeracy of educationally disadvantaged students.

Parents are concerned about literacy and numeracy standards in our schools. An estimated $1.8 billion is already being provided over the 2005-08 quadrennium to the government and non-government education sectors through the schools grants element of the Literacy, Numeracy and Special Learning Needs Program. This is a significant investment to support the literacy and numeracy and other learning outcomes of educationally disadvantaged students.

We should be aiming to raise the bar for every student so that we receive the highest possible standards. That is why the Australian government has taken the lead in ensuring that states and territories lift standards through a truly national literacy and numeracy assessment for years 3, 5, 7 and 9 from 2008. The test will look at the literacy and numeracy achievements of children against national measures. A student’s state of residence should not dictate education standards and experience, but there is little or no consistency between states and territories on critical issues such as starting ages, school structures, curriculum and year 12 certificates and university entry. I am calling for the development of a truly national curriculum and consistency in school starting ages.

We also cannot hope to raise standards in our schools if we continue with the fallacy that teachers do not deserve incentives and rewards for better performance. That is why I am developing options for greater consistency in professional development for teachers as well as calling on the states to provide higher salaries, and with an element of performance or merit based pay, and greater workforce flexibility. For example, we should be rewarding teachers who work in our most disadvantaged schools and achieve outstanding results or specialist teachers such as in science or maths.

This bill responds to the specific needs of schools and school communities. This government will continue to identify and respond to community aspirations for Australian schools to deliver the highest standard of education. The Australian government is committed to supporting a quality school education for all Australian children. The programs and initiatives it is putting in place are helping to create an Australian education system of high national standards, national consistency and quality so that all young people are prepared to meet the future demands of life, study and work. I commend the bill to the Senate.

Question put:

That the amendment (Senator Carr’s) be agreed to.