Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Better and Fairer Schools (Funding and Reform) Bill 2024. The primary purpose of the bill is to amend the Australian Education Act 2013 to enable the Commonwealth's share of funding for government schools to be increased. The government says this is all about delivering its election commitment to put every school on the path to full and fair funding, under its so-called Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, formerly known as the National School Reform Agreement. However, after 2½ years under this government, there is still no national schools funding agreement and there are still no national reforms, and time is running out.

The Commonwealth has reached bilateral agreements with the Tasmanian and Western Australian governments to lift its contribution to government schools from 20 per cent of the schooling resource standard to 22.5 per cent. For government schools in the Northern Territory, the Commonwealth's share will be a much more significant 40 per cent from 2029, recognising the dire challenges facing Territory schools, particularly in remote communities, and in recent days we have learnt that there is now an agreement between the Commonwealth and the ACT. We certainly welcome this certainty, yet there is no funding deal with the four largest states: New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. That means there are no national reforms agreed as the Minister for Education, Mr Clare, promised so that every child reaches his or her best potential. Regrettably, what we have instead is a continuing schools funding war.

I say to the government: there is nothing better or fairer about leaving in limbo almost 5½ thousand government schools across the nation—those in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia—comprising 81 per cent of government schools. With one in three students failing NAPLAN, there is nothing better or fairer about failing to deliver the national school reforms which are critical to ensuring that every child excels in the classroom and reaches his or her best potential.

We know this is a school funding war because, on 21 August this year, Labor state education ministers came to Canberra and protested against the Albanese government. That was a very big step, I might say, but it indicated the level of animosity and hostility between the states, with the ACT, and Minister Clare over the failure to conclude this agreement. That morning the Victorian education minister, Ben Carroll, even declared on ABC radio that when the Liberals were in power they did a better job funding public schools than the current government were. This was obviously very embarrassing for the government. After 2½ years, given how long the minister has been talking about this agreement and given the fact this agreement has been extended by one year, it's very regrettable that these deals have not been done, and they are of course due to expire on 31 December.

While the government's draft heads of agreement has been agreed with some of the jurisdictions—with agreement on a number of proposals and important reforms, including evidence based teaching interventions; screening tests, such as the year 1 phonics and numeracy checks; and improved student attendance and performance targets—the reforms are both light on detail and inadequate. The coalition has been demanding that evidence based teaching, such as explicit instruction and the teaching of phonics, be mandated and be available to every child in every classroom.

It is also time that our hardworking, wonderful, committed teachers across this country receive the resources they need to excel in the classroom, because at the moment it's a real hotchpotch. To put a teacher in the position where they don't have access to the best evidence based materials is really not good enough. It was only this year, only a number of months ago, that, in Victoria, the minister announced that the Victorian government will move from their whole-language, so-called balanced literacy approach to evidence based phonics, which is very much founded in the science of reading and learning. The fact that we have had a generation of children be subjected to less-than-ideal teaching methods—I would call it the era of loose learning—means we have failed many, many students. In fact, since the 1970s we have failed Australian children by not giving them the very best evidence based teaching, by not giving them the resources that we know work and, of course, by denying our teachers the very best.

On that note, I really want to commend the work of the Australian Education Research Organisation. Established by the former coalition government in agreement with the states and territories, AERO are leading the charge in demonstrating the very latest evidence based teaching methods, including providing practical guides for teachers, to support them in matters such as combating classroom disruption. AERO are doing in incredible job. They are running against the tide in terms of what so many teachers have been taught in universities that are, frankly, totally letting down teachers by giving them a less-than-adequate teacher education. It actually has been woeful. With a couple of exceptions—and La Trobe University is a real standout—generally speaking, our universities have got a lot to answer for in the woefully inadequate teacher training that they have provided over not just years but decades.

This bill permits but does not require the Commonwealth to increase its share of funding to government schools beyond 20 per cent with the exception of the Northern Territory, which would receive a 40 per cent share from 2029. These provisions grant the Commonwealth new flexibility in funding arrangements with the states and territories, principally required because of Minister Clare's school funding war and his threat that the government schools in the four biggest states will miss out on any increase if those states don't sign up to a 22.5 per cent share from the Commonwealth and, of course, agree to contribute 77.5 per cent to the SRS by the end of the year. In fact, that deadline was set at 30 September, which has now slipped.

At the moment more than 80 per cent government schools are facing a situation where they may effectively not get the funding they deserve from 1 January next year. This is no reflection on the newly elected Crisafulli government, which is still getting its feet under the table after an overwhelming vote of no confidence in Queensland Labor. The bottom line for students, teachers, principals and parents is this funding fiasco must be resolved.

I made this very important point in my senator statement earlier in the day: the coalition has a very fine record of backing schools when in government. I say this because, through his office, the minister is issuing points trying to denigrate the coalition, trying to suggest the coalition cut school funding when it's anything but. Under the former coalition government, annual school funding increased from $13 billion a year in 2013 to $25.3 billion a year in 2022. Our quality schools package drove record funding of $318.9 billion to all schools between 2018 and 2029. We also strengthened the curriculum with stronger evidence based content, including teaching phonics and the science of reading and learning, and improved teacher training recommendations. We backed our high-achieving teachers and delivered best-practice literacy and numeracy programs to close the gap. Of course there is more to be done, and we say to the government: please get on with it.

I do want to make the important point that, under the current legislated arrangement, the Commonwealth is meeting its SRS obligations of 20 per cent funding to government schools. It was always misleading for the Albanese government to claim it would fully fund government schools when the Commonwealth was in fact meeting its agreed obligations. The shortfall, with the exception of the ACT, was responsibility of the states and the Northern Territory, which was contributing just 59 per cent. Other poor performers were Queensland at 69 per cent rather than the 80 per cent required and Victoria at 70 per cent. It's very important to put that on the record.

At the end of the day, what is critical is not just the amount of money but how it is used in the classroom—the difference it makes. We know on this side of the chamber—and I have to say, to be fair, it's well-recognised right across this parliament—that raising school standards is crucial because we have seen some really concerning results continuing through the NAPLAN. One in three children are not meeting the benchmark standards. One in 10 children are so far behind they need catch-up tutoring, so there are some very significant concerns across the four NAPLAN test areas of reading, writing, conventions of language—which is spelling, grammar and punctuation—and numeracy. Year 9 students fared the worst, with 35.3 per cent failing to reach those expected standards or minimum standards of proficiency, falling into either the 'developing' or 'needs additional support' categories.

It is also—I've said this before, during the Senate estimates process—concerning that ACARA, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, claims that these stable results are an important achievement. That really is embarrassing. We are a very smart country. Our children are very smart. With the best, evidence based teaching, and by giving teachers the support they need, we can do better. We know we can do better, because even the program for international student assessment shows that, 20 years ago, the average year 10 Australian student was one year ahead in their learning compared to now. So we have seen significant decline, and that is really concerning.

As I mentioned, we are concerned that the reforms proposed in the National School Reform Agreement do not include appropriate obligations in relation to combating classroom disruption. Australia has some of the world's most unruly classrooms, sitting 71st out of 80 countries on the disciplinary climate index in the 2022 PISA results. We know that, when you have disrupted classrooms, child and teenage students cannot learn. It's very regrettable that the government has not responded to the many important recommendations made by the Senate inquiry, led very ably by Senator O'Sullivan, into classroom disruption, including a national behaviour survey, a behaviour curriculum and the clear abolition of open classrooms, which we know simply don't work.

We've also raised concerns about the national curriculum not being fit for purpose, and in the Senate inquiry into this bill we heard from primary school principals that it is impossible to teach. I believe more work needs to be done, and it's very regrettable that the government has not tackled that important task. The coalition supports this bill, but we are strongly advocating for a back-to-basics education sharply focused on literacy and numeracy, underpinned by explicit teaching and knowledge which commonsense curriculum— (Time expired)

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak for the Better and Fairer Schools (Funding and Reform) Bill 2024, because, as I said earlier today, I'm very proud of the public education I had. Although I didn't go all the way through the public system, my children have done so, and I believe in a public education system. The Albanese Labor government is proud of this bill because we know how important it is to give our children the best possible start, and education is key to ensuring millions of Australian students get the opportunities that they need to have not only a great education but to be prepared for the world and our future. That will open doors for them.

We know in this country the public education system is the backbone of education in Australia—overwhelmingly. More mums and dads send their children to a public school than to the private system, with 64 per cent of Australian children going to our public schools. Like every piece of legislation and reform that we are bringing before us now, nothing is ever perfect. But we do know that we have to start addressing the concerns, highlighted by the other side of the chamber as well as this side, that too many young Australians are not reaching NAPLAN's criteria in terms of where they should be in their year. This is a really good step towards addressing that.

But, from my personal experience, having been in this place for a long time, I don't remember a better education minister than Minister Jason Clare. He knows how important it is—he has lived the experience of how important it is—for many people in this place that they have been the first in their family to go to university. If you don't get that start right at the beginning, if we do not acknowledge and address the issue—there are children now starting school that have never had a story read to them. So they're always going to be behind. We know that if a child has had early childhood education, going through and being cared for in a childcare centre, they normally start off better at school than those who haven't. So what we really need to do is address the fundamental issue, and that means, when children start school and they are behind, that we help them catch up. But you have to continue to monitor those children to make sure that they don't fall behind. It makes all the difference.

We know that education is the most powerful tool that we can use to bring about change in an individual's life. We know how powerful it is to the Australian community to have a well-educated and supported education system, because our kids do much better. Education is an investment in individuals; it's an investment in communities; it's an investment in our economy and our society. My husband's and my youngest daughter works with children with high needs. Those children have academic challenges as well as behavioural problems. I think we still have a little way to go, to say the very least, to actually acknowledge that children learn very differently. If you talk to child psychologists, they will say that we are still failing too many children who don't fit into that educational box where we expect that children go into a classroom and have a teacher with a whiteboard—it is no longer a blackboard, which is what I experienced. We have to be able to allow children to learn in an environment that suits their abilities. We know that there are a lot of children who have special needs. I have to say about my daughter Jasmine I don't know how she does what she does every day. But I know she is passionate, just as we know that teachers throughout this country are passionate in what they do each and every day.

I hear from a very good friend of mine whose daughter has been working as a teacher for a long time of the challenges now that teachers are confronted with in the classroom. We know there are so many issues and people that are doing it hard. We know of the cost-of-living challenges that we are experiencing in our communities today. There are always challenges. There are family breakdowns. We know there are children who struggle with their education. But we also know what social media is doing. So we have to ensure that we have the support structures to wrap around our kids, because our futures depend on that.

The work that has been done to bring this legislation forward—the consultation and the committees that have inquired into education—has only just reinforced what we've all known: how important it is from kindergarten to year 12, to TAFE and to university that the opportunities are there for our young people. We know that those with an education actually have better health outcomes and their life expectancy is longer. We know in this country there's still a gap between our First Nations people and the rest of the population, and we have so much more work to do.

There is the work that Minister Jason Clare has been doing. I spoke earlier today about my experience being with him when he visits schools in Tasmania and the passion that he brings to meet the challenges. Unfortunately, in my home state the challenges of our children are where they sit on NAPLAN, which is very low. Of course there are exceptions to that, and of course we've got great teachers. But there's more that we've got to do. We need to put more tutors in the schools. We need to have more people doing the work, such as the special teachers' assistants that are in classrooms.

What is really unfortunate is that there are schools that are having those special teachers cut right now in New South Wales. At a time when it's recognised that we need more assistance for our children, they're being cut. We know that we need more in my home state of Tasmania. This extra funding that we're doing and the agreements that we have brought together through Minister Clare will bring about better opportunities for those children in Western Australia and in Tasmania. We know how important this funding will be. We know how important it will be to have that support around children's wellbeing. We really aren't just teaching children in education terms reading and writing but teaching them life skills. We're teaching them how to engage and to relate within their communities—the skills that they get to be able to negotiate and to be able to work together in a classroom.

We have seen too many generations who have not had the opportunities and who should have had this sort of reform, which was going to fix these problems. That has been very apparent in too many of our communities right around this country. Now we are bringing this reform. I always think it's sad when you have an opposition—who have been in government for a considerable period of time, like the previous government's 10 years, and failed to actually invest in education—come into this debate and to others in this place and never want to, at least, acknowledge that they could have done better. You might hear acknowledgement from a very few senators on that side about the fact that their government could have done better. I'm very pleased—and I would expect—that the opposition support this legislation today, because it's going to help fix the problems that they created. But it would be nice if occasionally an opposition could actually acknowledge that they didn't do enough. Even in one area would be a change.

This reform is actually going to allow this government to finish the great work that David Gonski brought to the previous Labor government, who wanted to see and actually had a formula to make sure there was fairness in education. I'm very proud of the fact that it's our government that is actually doing that here with this legislation. I want to again acknowledge the great work of Minister Clare. I know when he was dealing with the Tasmanian Minister for Education, the good thing was—I think this was a saving grace, and I can say that as a Tasmanian senator—that the current premier was the former minister for education, so he gets it. He understood what this was about. He was instrumental in getting the Tasmanian Liberal government to the table with the Minister for Education and with Minister Clare to reach this agreement. What is even better is, even when the agreement was signed that this would not be in place in totality until 2029, that they got a commitment together—between a federal Labor government and a state Liberal government—to do everything they can to deliver this funding before 2029. In fact, I have confidence—if the state Liberal government lasts for the next 12 months, with the way they're going; they're very shaky at the moment—that that money will be delivered before 2029.

I am very grateful for the work the Premier did and his commitment to do everything he could to bring forward that funding. Why is he doing that? It is because they acknowledge that we've fallen so far behind in our children being able to have the education they deserve. I put that on record and acknowledge that. It takes special people—and we don't have enough of them in the federal parliament—to acknowledge that more should have been done and could have been done and to now work with a Labor government to bring this about. In the Northern Territory we know what that is going to mean to the Territory and to the children there, to help bring them up to the standard where they need to be.

From our point of view, as a Labor government, we were prepared to work with every state and territory government, irrespective of their political colouring, to make sure that this funding was delivered and that this bill was passed in this place. As I said before, no legislation is ever perfect and there is always more to be done. I think it's a bit like being at home trying to do some maintenance and some housework; there's always more to be done tomorrow. This is an amazing start, but there is, as I said, so much more to be done. We have to continue to evaluate the evidence that is based around professional people, the teachers, the school leaders, the school communities, parents and students themselves. As students get older in the upper years of high school and then go on to college and university, we know how important it is to have them engaged. I commend this bill. (Time expired)

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Better and Fairer Schools (Funding and Reform) Bill 2024, which brings a critical issue before the Senate today—that is, the future of our education system. While this bill seeks to amend the Australian Education Act 2013 to increase federal funding for government schools, it falls short of addressing the core challenges facing our classrooms.

I note the title of this bill—'funding and reform'. I think this bill lacks reform. It doesn't have the reform that, ultimately, is necessary in our school systems across the country. I applaud the states that have been able to negotiate an agreement, and there should be more, but we need to see greater accountability and we've got to see reform of our education system because our children are falling further and further behind. More needs to be done.

The government claim that this is a step towards full and fair funding for our schools, yet nearly three years into their term they have failed to secure a comprehensive national funding agreement. As I said, only a few states and territories—Tasmania, Western Australia and the ACT—have struck bilateral deals to increase the Commonwealth funding contribution from 20 to 25 per cent. Meanwhile, the vast majority of government schools, 81 per cent, remain uncertain about their financial future. More needs to be done, and it's critical that the government gets this right, because kids' lives and their education are at stake, and I am concerned that there is not enough reform done through this bill that will drive the changes that we need to see.

Debate interrupted.