Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Indigenous funding is the other issue I wanted to raise because it has come up in COAG. Contrary to what the minister thinks, there is an amendment that has been circulated. When we get to the amendment this discussion will take place again. I hear what the minister is saying about a funding guarantee and funding being maintained for non-systemic schools, and I am taking it from what the minister is saying that none of the non-systemic schools are going to be worse off because of the changes. On that basis I understand the minister is telling Senator Macdonald that those schools in Townsville are not going to be worse off, in spite of what those schools are telling Senator Macdonald. So that is going to be something that we are going to have to watch.

I was distressed about the government’s decision to split these bills between the public education and the non-government component because I recognise that the Commonwealth is changing the formula but putting additional funding into Indigenous education in non-government schools. And I think that is a good thing as we desperately need to have more money in Indigenous education. The problem is that 80 per cent of Australia’s Indigenous students attend public schools—that is, government schools.

Education in government schools is the responsibility of the states. So it does not make one iota of difference to the Indigenous child whether it is the state government or the federal government that is responsible. The end result is that, if you are an Indigenous child, you are better funded in a non-government school than you are in a government school and 80 per cent of Indigenous children are in government schools. The problem here is that the Indigenous children are subject to the vagaries of state budgets.

I know the Commonwealth is going to say, ‘Our only responsibility in terms of education is predominantly the funding in non-government schools.’ But I want to be assured here, Minister, that there are some performance criteria, some requirement that the states actually fund Indigenous students in government schools at the same rate so that collectively, between Commonwealth and state finance, an Indigenous student—whether they go to one system or the other—is funded at the same level. I would like to know from you, Minister, at COAG this weekend what requirement there is on the states to actually fund Indigenous education? Otherwise we will have a situation where inevitably you are going to have some Indigenous students much worse off because they are subject to the vagaries of state governments.