Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I was not verballing. I am correcting the record now. In our view, it should have made its way into a recommendation, but it clearly did not. I commend the amendments to the chamber nonetheless.

Question negatived.

By leave—I move Greens amendments (19) to (21) on sheet 7229 revised together:

(19)   Schedule 2, item 11, page 16 (line 27), after "be", insert "in writing and".

(20)   Schedule 2, item 11, page 17 (after line 5), at the end of section 124NC, add:

Notifier to consider individual circumstances

(8)   In determining requirements for the purposes of subsection (7), the notifier must consider the individual circumstances of the schooling requirement person and the one or more children covered by the plan.

Requirements of plan to be explained

(9)   The notifier must not require a schooling requirement person to enter into a school attendance plan unless the notifier is satisfied that:

  (a)   the requirements of the plan have been explained to the person in the person's first language; and

  (b)   the person understands the requirements of the plan.

(21)   Schedule 2, item 11, page 17 (line 14), omit "124NB(a)", substitute "124NB(1)(a)".

We are, by way of these amendments, seeking to create requirements for an attendance plan that does three essential things: firstly, that the individual circumstances of the family be considered; secondly, that the attendance plan be created with parents or the guardians responsible for the child at the conference, not beforehand; and thirdly, that the plan be explained properly in the first language of the parents. These are reasonably basic considerations that should be required in the making of attendance plans given that breaching these plans can have such extraordinarily serious consequences for the families concerned.