WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as
introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest
does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be
consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the
Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Concluding Comments
Endnotes
Contact Officer and Copyright Details
States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education
Assistance) Amendment Bill 1998
Date Introduced: 25 June 1998
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Employment, Education, Training and Youth
Affairs
Commencement: On Royal Assent.
This Bill
provides for a number of amendments to the States Grants
(Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) Act 1996 (the
Act). The main ones provide:
- $20 million for the introduction of Full Service Schools over
three years from 1998 and
- $40.2 million for the extension of the National Asian Languages
and Studies in Australian Schools (NALSAS) strategy over two years
from 1998.
This Bill gives effect to initiatives announced
in the 1998-99 Budget. These include the introduction of Youth
Allowance - a major new social policy reform of income support to
begin on 1 July 1998. The introduction of Youth Allowance will mean
additional expenditure to the social security budget of $212
million over the next four years.(1)
Youth Allowance is aimed at encouraging young
people under 18 years to complete their schooling, or if they leave
school early, to move on to further training or employment.
In order to receive the Youth Allowance from
January 1999, eligible young people under 18 years who have not
completed Year 12 or equivalent must be in full-time education or
training unless specifically exempted.
Full Service Schools
The Commonwealth has established the Full
Service Schools program in order to cover additional costs
associated with the Youth Allowance initiative. Funding for the
program will address the specific needs of young people returning
to school following changes to the Youth Allowance and for current
students who are at risk of not completing Year 12, or making a
successful transition from school to work. The Program will target
students who are not likely to benefit from mainstream learning
pathways. Funds will be directed towards:
- the employment of specialist teachers or counsellors
- providing professional development for teachers and other
staff
- delivering and developing special courses associated with
pre-vocational education or training, and
- assisting students to access government and community support
services.
Funding will be provided to schools in areas
with the highest numbers of young people affected by the
implementation of the Youth Allowance.
Steering Committees will manage the
implementation of the Full Service Schools program in each State
and Territory.(2)
NALSAS
The NALSAS Strategy is a cooperative initiative
between Commonwealth, State and Territory governments. The Strategy
assists government and non-government schools to improve
participation and proficiency levels in four targeted Asian
languages. They are:
- Japanese
- Chinese (Mandarin)
- Indonesian, and
- Korean.
The major collaborative activities are in three
broad areas. They are:
- professional development for teachers
- development of proficiency outcomes for students and teachers,
and
- curriculum materials.
The strategy also introduces or increases Asian
studies content across the curriculum in order to improve
Australia's capacity and preparedness to interact with key Asian
economies.
The 1998-99 Budget provided for funds of $40.2
million to take the NALSAS program through to the end of 1999. This
extra funding will be used to provide continued support to teachers
and students. Commonwealth funding is matched by States and
Territories.
Additional Amendments
The Bill also contains provisions which:
- from 1999, enable the Minister to vary funding provided to
education authorities under the Literacy and Country Areas
programs(3)
- change funding schedules to insert amounts of capital funding
for 2001(4)
- vary the amounts of 1997 recurrent and capital grants in
respect of the 1997 supplementation and provide for its flow on
effects for 1998, 1999 and 2000
- rectify an inadvertent omission in the Act to provide for
grants for expenditure on special education services to be provided
under the legislation
- incorporate a technical amendment to define the role of the
Governor-General in making regulations under the Act, and
- incorporate a minor stylistic change to the format of the
Act.
Clause 7 adds to the provisions
relating to grants to meet special learning needs. This clause
provides for funding for projects to assist students who return to
school because of the introduction of the youth allowance and to
assist students to complete senior secondary education and to make
a successful transition from school to training, further education
or employment.
Clause 10 updates funding
amounts for students with disabilities attending government schools
from 1997 initial prices to 1998 initial prices.
Clause 11 clarifies the full
range of special education services able to be supported under the
Act and in particular ensures that grants to non-government centres
are not limited to special education activities conducted
at non-government centres.
Clauses 12 and 13 updates
funding amounts for recurrent expenditure on education in English
as a second language for eligible new arrivals.
Clause 15 inserts a new section
76A to allow the Minister to approve projects under the Full
Service Schools program which provides additional funding for
schools, industry and community groups to assist in alleviating the
concerns of parents, the community and young people following the
introduction of the youth allowance.
Clauses 16-18 provides that the
Minister rather than the Governor-General is responsible for
determining cost supplementation amounts prior to the
Governor-General making a regulation under section 78.
Clause 20 makes changes to the
cost supplementation to reflect the introduction of the Full
Service Schools program by Clause 15.
Clause 21 inserts a new section
78A to allow the Minister to make a determination during a program
year varying some or all of the amounts of the Grants Under the
Literacy Program. The amounts are set out in Schedule 6.
Clause 23 inserts new
subsections 79(2A) and (2B) to allow the Minister to make a
determination during a program year varying some or all of the
amounts of the Grants Under the Country Areas Program. The amounts
are set out in Schedule 8.
Clause 24 amends the tables in
Schedules 1-8 to update all legislated funding amounts from 1997
initial prices to 1998 initial prices. This clause also inserts a
new Column 7 in Schedule 8 to reflect the introduction of the Full
Service Schools Program.
Clause 25 inserts a new
definition of 'youth allowance' for the purposes of the Full
Service Schools Program. Qualification for youth allowance is set
out in Part 2.11 of the Social Security Legislation Amendment
(Youth Allowance) Act 1998.
Evidence presented to a recent Senate Inquiry
into the Status of the Teaching Profession revealed concerns about
the increasing pressures on schools and on individual teachers in
particular. The Inquiry's report remarked that many teachers have
identified relentless change as a key contributor to the sense of
crisis infecting the profession.(5) The stresses that these
Programs produce may be undermining the morale, the attractiveness
and, ultimately, the status of the teaching profession.(6)
- States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance)
Amendment Bill 1998, Second Reading Speech, by the Hon. Dr
David Kemp MP, Minister for Employment, Education, Training and
Youth Affairs, 25 June 1998.
- State and Territory Steering Committees will consist of
representatives of government and non-government education
authorities, the Commonwealth, principals' organisations and parent
groups.
- Education authorities include those from State and Territory
government and non-government sectors.
- Capital funding relates to government and non-government
schools.
- Senate Employment, Education and Training References Committee,
A Class Act: Inquiry into the Status of the Teaching
Profession, The Senate, March 1998, p.8.
- Ibid., Chapter 5, pp 95-105.
Ross Kilmurray
30 June 1998
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
This paper has been prepared for general distribution to
Senators and Members of the Australian Parliament. While great care
is taken to ensure that the paper is accurate and balanced, the
paper is written using information publicly available at the time
of production. The views expressed are those of the author and
should not be attributed to the Information and Research Services
(IRS). Advice on legislation or legal policy issues contained in
this paper is provided for use in parliamentary debate and for
related parliamentary purposes. This paper is not professional
legal opinion. Readers are reminded that the paper is not an
official parliamentary or Australian government document.
IRS staff are available to discuss the paper's contents with
Senators and Members
and their staff but not with members of the public.
ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 1998
Except to the extent of the uses permitted under the
Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
information storage and retrieval systems, without the prior
written consent of the Parliamentary Library, other than by Members
of the Australian Parliament in the course of their official
duties.
Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library,
1998.
Back to top