Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

There is no robust evidence to suggest that NAPLAN testing is causing stress to students. NAPLAN is not a high-stakes test and, while it may be high profile, there are no adverse consequences for students. While it is expected that some students will feel some stress in response to any assessment, it is likely these responses are not exclusive to NAPLAN testing.

In 2012, the Whitlam Institute released a report entitled The experience of education: the impacts of high stakes testing on school students and their families—an educator's perspective, which claims that approximately 90 per cent of respondents to the email survey stated that at least some students reported feeling stressed. The report was based on an opt-in survey sent only to union members to which three per cent of members chose to respond—three per cent. In addition, many of the survey questions appear to have been structured to elicit negative responses. So I repeat: there is no robust evidence— (Time expired)