Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

First of all, before I commence, I want to say that I've got a lot of respect for Senator Allman-Payne. I know the passion that she brings to this place for school reform and how genuinely she advocates those views. What the Australian Education Amendment (Save Our Public Schools) Bill 2023 is proposing, however, would commit the government to unilaterally increasing its share of government school funding. It fundamentally ignores the role of the states and territories in these arrangements. Governments, in funding schools that they administer, have to also carry a responsibility. This is part of the federation process that actually occurs within our systems of government across this country. It's a critical role that those negotiations play in making sure that we uplift the states and territories' participation, enrolment and policy approaches to schools funding. Part of the school funding arrangements means that changes in school funding or arrangements in school funding need an intergovernmental discussion, state by state, territory by territory, because that's how the federation works. It's not as simple as just saying, 'Do this and in return we get a better system.' It is not that simple.

Of course money plays a role, and that's a critical piece that every government has played in making sure that we do get changes. The Gonski support that this government and previous iterations of Labor governments have taken up in support of improved funding is critical in terms of making sure that we have better outcomes in our schools. The government's taking critical steps towards fairer funding through the O'Brien review and the upcoming negotiation of the National School Reform Agreement for 2025. That's a fundamental process of making sure that we get it all right. Funding models, funding arrangements and navigating state and territory engagement are critical pieces of making sure that we get the whole cake made, that we get the ingredients right, and that, when it's baked and it rises, it rises for everybody.

Currently, no public school outside the ACT is at the full and fair funding level. As we know, the Albanese government remains committed to working with states and territories so that every school has 100 per cent of fair funding levels in the next National School Reform Agreement. We're committed to that. We've said that on numerous occasions. The bill that's proposed by the Greens would commit the government to unilaterally increasing its share of government school funding while ignoring the role of the state and territory governments in funding schools that they administer and the established process of the National School Reform Agreement. This is a process through which funding can be tied to agreed reforms. That's the critical piece. This is the way that you actually get agreed reforms. That's what a federation does. That's why we are in a federation. That's how the federation works.

The Commonwealth is currently negotiating with the states and territories on the next National School Reform Agreement. We are using this opportunity to ensure that the funding the Commonwealth provides to states and territories is tied to reforms which will make our education system better and fairer. The Productivity Commission found that the equity gap in schools widened under the coalition's schools agreement signed by the member for Cook. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds were found to be three times more likely to be behind. Eighty-six thousand students didn't meet either the basic literacy or the basic numeracy standard. It's clear that students, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, were being left behind under the coalition's schools agreement. It requires a sophisticated, thoughtful and appropriate approach to make sure that we rectify those mistakes that were made so glaringly by the coalition. The Albanese government is determined to make the Australian education system better and fairer for everybody.

Sitting suspended from 09:30 to 11:00

As I was saying before, the Productivity Commission found that the equity gap in schools widened under the coalition's school agreement signed by the member for Cook. It's clear that students, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, were being left behind under the coalition's school agreement. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds were three times more likely to be left behind. Eighty-six thousand students didn't meet either the basic literacy standard or the numeracy standard.

The Albanese government is determined, as I said before, to make the Australian education system better and fairer. The Albanese government are making meaningful progress towards our commitment to work with states and territories to get every school to a hundred per cent of its fair funding level.

On 31 January 2024 Minister Clare signed a statement of intent with the Western Australian Minister for Education, committing to fund all Western Australian government schools to a hundred per cent of the SRS and implementing reforms as part of the next NSRA. These are significant changes. This is actually Labor delivering on what it committed to do. This is righting those wrongs that were done under the Morrison government. This is about disadvantaged students now getting a leg-up from the Labor Albanese government in cooperation with the states. And this is not the end of the project. This is an important part of the pathway of the project—our ambition and our desire and our determination to make sure that we deliver on those commitments that we've made for a hundred per cent of the SRS to be delivered.

The Australian government will invest, in the case of Western Australia, an additional $777.4 million over 2025 to 2029 in Western Australian public schools from 2025. Under that agreement, the most disadvantaged schools will reach full and fair funding first in 2025. We are delivering. Every child in Western Australia will attend a fully funded school in 2026. I'd like to commend the Western Australian government for taking up this historic agreement with the Albanese government. It's a momentous achievement for both governments which will help students from all backgrounds achieve their full potential.

Importantly, the National School Reform Agreement will tie funding to reforms to improve outcomes. That's critical. That's why you do negotiations with states, that's why you reach agreements—because it's a shared responsibility between the parties, between our very states and between the states and the government nationally. These are critical reforms that take place across our states and territories, and to have reform in this space you have to be able to reach agreement. Western Australia's been a trailblazer in that important step forward that we've committed to and that we've delivered in Western Australia and committed to delivering across the country.

Importantly, as I say, the National School Reform Agreement will tie funding to reforms to improve outcomes. That is the fundamental, critical thing. That's one of the reasons I'm opposed to this proposition put forward by the Greens—because we have to actually make sure that we have tied funding to reforms to improve outcomes. That's a shared discussion, that's a shared negotiation and that's a shared ambition to make sure that we deliver together with the states, in cooperation.

Specific reforms are subject to negotiations with each of the states and territories. By tying funding to reform, the next schools agreement is our opportunity to make our education system better and fairer. It's fundamental. You've got to get the parties into a room. You've got to have those negotiations. You've got to talk it through. You've got to reach those ambitions together. And you've got to have the form on how those reforms work. We're tying the funding to reforms, as per Minister Clare's announcement on 29 March 2023 about the review to inform a better and fairer education system. He said that the reforms will be focused on driving real and measurable improvements for students and will further support student outcomes and wellbeing.

The review was published on Monday 11 December 2023 and has advised on key reforms related to equity, wellbeing and teacher workforce. These are significant pieces of change that need to be, and are being, appropriately negotiated with the states and territories. I repeat: they are being delivered. In Western Australia, they are being delivered in the form and the format that has been clearly spelt out between the two governments. There is $777.4 million over 2025 to 2029 in additional investment and funding going to Western Australian schools.

The Australian government is committed to ensuring that every child has access to high-quality education. As part of this, the Australian government is working with state and territory governments to get every school to 100 per cent of its fair funding level. This will ensure that every school is appropriately resourced to provide a high-quality education to all students, to make sure that we pick up those failures from the previous coalition government, to make sure that we have the opportunities for all Australians, including disadvantaged Australians, so that we can rise all boats in the Australian education system and make sure the opportunities for our teachers are more and more robust and we are dealing with the challenges that many in the teacher workforce have.

The agreement reached with the Western Australian government is a landmark moment for public education. I'm sure that the senators representing Western Australia—and we heard comments earlier from beside me—are pleased to hear that the Albanese government, with that investment, will make those real changes. The bill being proposed by the Greens would see the Commonwealth increase its share of the SRS from 20 per cent to 25 per cent in one year for government schools, without transition. That does not make sense. If you want to get the reforms that many of us want—and there is lots of common ground that we have within this place—then you have to tie the transition funding proposed in the National School Reform Agreement together. You have to tie it together. You don't simply go off and say, 'Here's the amount in one year, 20 to 25 per cent.' That's where the parties come together and have those proper discussions. Let's make sure those discussions take place. Let's make sure that the Western Australian program is an example of what can occur elsewhere.

The next National School Reform Agreement will make sure the funding is tied to the sorts of things we need in our schools that will help our kids to learn and to realise their full potential. The reforms this agreement will implement will make a huge difference to the students, schools and families in Western Australia. These reforms will mean that students are more likely to catch up and stay caught up, closing the education gap. They are crucial to maximising Australia's potential and preparing for the country's future. These are fundamental, important steps.

As we said to some of the comments from the coalition, this government is absolutely committed to working collaboratively with each state and territory to achieve full and fair funding for schools. But, to reach the goal, the Commonwealth needs to chip in. States need to chip in. We need to work together to get the job done, and I'm confident that we can do that. Unlike the coalition, we are more interested in delivering outcomes than in picking fights and placing blame. The former coalition government was notorious for pushing the job onto someone else. That's not our approach. We're making sure that these reforms and these opportunities are done in cooperation with the states while we incentivise those sorts of arrangements, as we've seen in Western Australia. We've seen that people can have those hard conversations to come up with the right answers to deal with disadvantage, deal with opportunity and deal with the future.

The former coalition government was notorious for pushing jobs onto someone else. This government is determined to make the education system better and fairer across the board. For schools this means achieving full and fair funding and tying the funding to reforms that will close the education gap, improving student wellbeing and attracting and retaining a stronger teacher workforce.

The coalition claim that funding won't fix the issue. Funding alone won't make our education system better and fairer, but that is why we are tying funding to reforms in the next National School Reform Agreement. (Time expired)