Matt Williams (Hindmarsh, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This bill, as we know, will create a mechanism to enable payments to be made under the government's Indigenous boarding initiative, an initiative designed to provide additional recurrent funding in 2014 to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boarding students at non-government schools. I know from my former school days as well as on-going contact I have had with my former school that the Indigenous boarding students at Immanuel College have made some great contributions to the school over the years and also to their local communities when they have returned.

A school in my electorate that caters for indigenous Australians is Warriappendi. Their main purpose is to support young Aboriginal people to re-engage in formal education processes. The school provides a valuable role in providing a safe, challenging learning environment for young people who have previously had significant difficulties in traditional secondary schools. I attended their graduation service last year and witnessed the joy of some of their students in achieving. I want to acknowledge the work of Principal Chris Brandwood and his staff.

I note with interest in a recent newsletter from Warriappendi that there have been many great examples of students setting goals and taking the steps to achieving them. Well done to those students for taking advantage of a range of opportunities: Michaela McLaughlin-Liddle, for achievement of a school-based traineeship in Certificate III in Business Administration with QANTAS; Shane Weetra, who participated in a tyre-fitting course at the Youth Education Centre and completed three units from the Certificate I in Automotive; and also Shannon Richards, who completed a pre-employment program with Woolworths via a Certificate II Retail and is now employed. These are fantastic outcomes for these students.

Still on the topic of Indigenous Australians, last week the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, Alan Tudge, visited my electorate and we had a very productive meeting with the Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Council, an organisation that runs drug and alcohol programs for Indigenous communities. I want to commend Scott Wilson and Jimmy Berry on the good work they do helping thousands of people, mainly Indigenous, with drug and alcohol issues. Whether it be identified in the Forrest review, which I will speak about shortly, or in other discussions with bodies like ADAC, drug and alcohol and school attendance are major challenges for these communities. They are challenges that must be addressed, however, to obtain a better future for Indigenous Australians.

Returning to the bill, it will also provide funding certainty for certain independent special schools and special assistance schools. Since the act was passed by the 43rd Parliament, a number of errors and oversights made during the original drafting have been identified which affect the proper administration of the legislation. This bill will correct these and provide greater certainty for schools about their funding entitlements. Taking action to fix these problems will strengthen the legislative framework that underpins the Australian government's significant investment in schools and contribute to improving the quality of school education in Australia.

I would like to say a few words about recent visits I have had to schools in my electorate. I recently attended Henley High School in my electorate to congratulate Leon McCalla on being selected to participate in the ConocoPhillips Science Experience program. I am proud to support the program, a great initiative between a major international company and universities—also involving school students. Leon and his science teacher, Tracy Moore, both demonstrated a great passion for science. I enjoyed talking to Leon about his interest in many things, whether it be his science subjects or politics. I was also impressed with Tracy's promotion of science at Henley. I want to congratulate them both on their work and achievements. I look forward to returning to Henley High this Thursday night for their graduation ceremony. It was a great night last year and promises to be a fine night this year.

While on school services and graduation ceremonies, last Friday I attended St Michael's College. It was wonderful to hear, during the ceremony, of the impressive work students had undertaken across so many areas including community service, leadership and sport. I congratulate all students who received awards, especially Ella Kearsley, the first winner at St Michaels of the Hindmarsh Award, an award I proudly provide to schools in my electorate. St Michael's was also recognised in the world of music as one of 50 schools across Australia to take part in a national music initiative, SongMakers.

On education more broadly I want to make a few points about the government's commitment to a number of important reforms. As we all know, funding for higher education is actually going up. In 2013-14, Labor's last budget, the total higher education funding was $8.97 billion; our budget shows higher education funding growing to $9.47 billion by 2017-18. In South Australia, importantly, there is an increase of $275 million over the next four years. This is $275 million more for specific needs, for better teaching resources. For the first time ever the Commonwealth will provide direct financial support for an uncapped number of students studying for higher education diplomas, advanced diplomas and associate degrees. This will include students from low SES backgrounds and from regional Australia and sometimes those from Indigenous communities. The government's reforms will provide better access and more opportunities for low socioeconomic status students and those living in regional Australia. As part of this package, we require universities to invest $1 of every $5 of additional revenue in new Commonwealth scholarships for students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds.

Securing Australia's place at the forefront of research will also be vital. There is money dedicated to those causes, with $150 million in 2015-16 for the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy, close to $140 million to deliver 100 new four-year research positions per year under the Future Fellowships scheme, $26 million to accelerate research in dementia, $42 million to support new research in tropical disease and $24 million to support the Antarctic gateway partnership. And still on tertiary education, we learnt recently that a number of Australian universities had improved in the Times Higher Education world university rankings. This is what we need to hear more of. I want to congratulate the University of Adelaide, which moved from outside the top 200 to 164, and the University of South Australia, which improved as well.

I want to return to some challenges and opportunities in education. Whether it be greater school autonomy, more training for teachers or increased parental engagement, there is considerable upside to some of these reforms we are working on. Last week I had the opportunity to meet the principal of Brighton High School. A significant number of Brighton High School's student population are from my electorate. It has a strong reputation for excellence in many areas. It was good to hear the principal's views on the importance of having good leaders across school management. We also agreed on the vital role that parents play in the education of their children. And when meeting with school councils—whether it be Underdale high, Star of the Sea, Cowandilla primary school, William Light or the many more I have visited over the last year—and with parents who are governing council members I have been continually impressed with their passion, interest and commitment to their children's education. This is no different to my children's school, West Beach Primary School, where the members of the governing council are also committed parents who want to see the best for their children's education.

The role of parents is discussed in some detail in the Forrest review. I want to quote a couple of paragraphs because I think it is important to the debate we are having now, and the ongoing debate about how to get better education outcomes not just for Indigenous communities but also for all other school communities. Andrew Forrest says:

Parents who send their children to school every day accord this fundamental human right to their children. Children who are not sent to school regularly are denied this right, the right to a normal standard of education and the skills to become capable citizens. Without these, they will be unable to enjoy the standard of living of other Australians.

He goes on to say:

… parents must also play their part and send their children to school at least nine out of 10 school days.

Remember, he is talking about Indigenous communities. He says:

Only wholesale change of community attitude has sufficient potency to create the change which will see every Australian child given a fair go in life.

He says:

Whichever way you look at this, only employment will end the disparity, and employment is only possible if we remove all impediments to parity in education.

Finally, he says:

It doesn’t mean more money—

as we have heard so often—

it does mean we empower our education and training institutions with expectations and the tools to remove the disparity in results between first Australians and other Australians.

They are very pertinent words. School funding is naturally important, and I understand the concerns of schools who raise funding certainty with me. I will continue to listen to their views and understand their perspectives.

In closing, this bill provides necessary funding for specific areas and has a positive benefit for many students. Together with the commitment of parents, teachers and school leaders, we will work together to achieve better education outcomes for our children and our society. I commend this bill to the House.

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