Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Senator Scullion. Will the minister advise the chamber on the progress of the Remote School Attendance Strategy to increase school attendance rates for Indigenous children?

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It does not help when senators interject and I have not called the minister.

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator McKenzie. I am pleased to report that the government's new approach is taking effect. Getting Aboriginal and Islander children to school of course is one of the government's top priorities in this area. We have committed significant funds to lift school attendance rates in remote Australia through the Remote School Attendance Strategy. We have rolled that out in 73 schools from Western Australia to Queensland, and from South Australia to the Northern Territory. But of course it is not how much we have invested—it is the results. I am happy to report to the Senate that the results, in terms of the attendance data, are showing an overall upward trend, and that trend is sustainable. The average daily attendance rate is up by 5.1 per cent compared with term 1 in 40 communities participating in stage 1.

We are already getting unprecedented levels of data and cooperation from all the jurisdictions, and for that I thank them. This even comes down to receiving daily data. Education departments are telling us that, in many cases, this is the first time that they have been able to peruse the data on a daily basis. And of course we know that we cannot manage what we cannot measure.

I congratulate everyone who has taken up this challenge in this very important area, particularly the communities. As I have travelled around the communities, I have noticed that they are talking about what they are going to do in their own context, without assistance, to ensure that their children are engaged with school. But the ante has been upped, and I think that the communities have decided that they are going to take control and ensure that this negative narrative is in fact turned around.

Very importantly, COAG has now agreed to the new target to close the gap on school attendance within five years. All those jurisdictions have made that commitment. My department is working closely with the providers; most importantly, with families; and with communities to ensure that this fantastic trend continues.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister highlight any particular instances of success in increasing student attendance under the Remote School Attendance Strategy?

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks again for the supplementary question, Senator McKenzie. There have been some dramatic improvements. Specifically, the Queensland and Northern Territory governments have actually granted permission to release publicly the term 1 attendance data, and that demonstrates very much that the strategy is working. Attendance rates rose in almost all the Queensland and Northern Territory schools. In Doomadgee, for example, they rose from 49 per cent—tragic—in term 1 to 67.8 per cent, an absolute victory: an increase of 18 percentage points. In Wugularr in the Northern Territory, attendance rates are 15 per cent up on what they were in 2013. In Borroloola, a very difficult case, they rose by, again, 15 per cent. Those are fantastic outcomes from those communities and those parents.

So, in 14 of the 21 RSAS schools, attendance is up more than five percentage points across those schools compared to last year. This stands in stark contrast to the outcomes of the previous five years.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister highlight how many jobs for Indigenous Australians have been created in remote communities under the Remote School Attendance Strategy?

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When you have got a challenge like this you have got to be able to chew gum and walk at the same time. There are a number of challenges in communities that are not about school attendance, and one of the principle ones is employment. That is why I am delighted to advise that, now, more than 500 local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been engaged as school attendance officers and supervisors. From the beginning I insisted that this program employ 100 per cent Aboriginal and Islander people, and that has been done. Few of the people who are now employed had been employed before. Most of them were unemployed—but that was not because they did not have a particular set of skills. The skills they have are like having a degree in 'Wiluna' or a degree in 'Yuendumu'; they are not available anywhere else. These individuals have those special talents of knowing exactly where a family is up to, where the mobility is, and exactly what the barriers facing those families are. We are capturing that skill set. So congratulations very much to those communities and those members for their efforts. (Time expired)