Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

Labor will not be supporting these amendments. However, we do understand the Greens' intentions here, but the assessment of needs for students with disability in our school system should be addressed properly in a manner informed by the appropriate evidence. Unfortunately, that evidence has not been available to us because of the nature of the process in dealing with this bill, and the limited information that the minister has made available. In the longer term, with an independent—or not so independent—schooling resourcing body, hopefully that problem will be overcome. But simply picking the nominal figure of $300 million is not enough, especially given that the government is not supporting it, which means that even that nominal figure is not going to be provided.

From the Labor Party's point of view, we are concerned that additional funding has not been provided for this additional number—this 100 per cent increase in the number of students. We remain concerned to understand how these new arrangements are going to apply to the additional students and, indeed, to the existing funding arrangements for students with disability. We have serious concerns that this will be rolled out according to the nationally consistent data for students with disability, in a manner which will have quite serious impacts on students—both those that currently attract funding and those that do not. We appreciate that the Greens are attempting additional funding here. I suspect other crossbenchers have also attempted that endeavour. We understand that, unfortunately, that attempt has failed. We would have preferred to have seen the full data about these students with disability—what categories they will shift into across the model, and understand exactly what the additional resourcing requirements for those students would be.

We agree with the Greens about the additional funding. I was not in the chamber during question time, but I listened to Senator Brandis talk about the significant additional funding that is supposedly in these arrangements for students with disability. There is no significant additional funding. Anyone who has looked at this bill and understands the miniscule amount of additional funding that is involved in this area knows that these measures are insufficient and, unfortunately, our students with disability will suffer the consequences of that.

Senator Hanson-Young, I understand your endeavour to attract that additional funding and the attempt to try to capture a figure for what that appropriate amount should be. From my experience in this area in the past, it is no better than a guestimate, because of the amount of information we have available. Given that the government is not going to support it and no-one else has been able to secure it, I do not see, in terms of our point of view about what approach should be followed, that simply nominating a figure informs that—more than as an acknowledgement of our statements from the shadow minister, Tanya Plibersek, about the additional funding that is needed and your statement through this amendment as well. I do not see Labor supporting this amendment as necessarily achieving that.