Bills Digest no. 43 2008–09
Education Legislation Amendment Bill 2008
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
Financial implications
Main provisions
Concluding comments
Contact officer & copyright details
Passage history
Date introduced:
24 September 2008
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Education, Employment and Workplace
Relations
Commencement:
Sections 1 to 3, Schedules
1 and 4 on Royal Assent. Schedules 2 and 3 at the same time the
Schools Assistance Act 2008 commences.
Links: The
relevant links to the Bill, Explanatory Memorandum and second
reading speech can be accessed via BillsNet, which is at http://www.aph.gov.au/bills/.
When Bills have been passed they can be found at ComLaw, which is
at http://www.comlaw.gov.au/.
The purpose of
the Bill is to amend the Indigenous Education (Targeted
Assistance) Act 2000 to:
- Appropriate funding for 2009 2013 for non ABSTUDY targeted
programs predominately in the non school sectors and projects,
aimed at improving Indigenous education outcomes
- Provide for the continuation of payments for 2009 2013 to
education providers for the mixed-mode Away from Base element of
ABSTUDY
- Appropriate funding for new Indigenous early childhood measures
until new arrangements are introduced in 2009
- Cease appropriations from 2009 for six Indigenous education
school programs that will transfer to the proposed Schools
Assistance Act for non-government schools and to new funding
arrangements for government schools through agreements with the
States and Territories.
The Bill makes consequential, transitional and
technical amendments to the Indigenous Education (Targeted
Assistance) Act 2000, the Australian Technical Colleges
(Flexibility in Achieving Australia s Skills Needs) Act 2005
and the Schools Assistance (Learning Together Achievement
Through Choice and Opportunity) Act 2004 to reflect the
provisions of the proposed Schools Assistance Act.
The Bill also repeals the States Grants
(Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) Act 2000.
Since 1989, when
Parliament passed the Aboriginal Education (Supplementary
Assistance) Amendment Bill, Commonwealth funding for Indigenous
education has contained two main elements: assistance to individual
students and direct funding to institutions providing courses and
training. Although the emphasis has moved towards funding of
strategic targeted initiatives through education providers, rather
than through support to individuals, the provision of Commonwealth
support has continued under the framework of a specific Act,
currently the Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Act
2000 (the IETA Act).
The current IETA
Act provides quadrennium funding across all education sectors for
the years 2005 2008. Similarly Commonwealth assistance to
government and non-government schools is provided on a quadrennium
basis through the Schools Assistance (Learning Together
Achievement Through Choice and Opportunity) Act 2004.
The proposed
Schools Assistance Act and future agreements with the States and
Territories will, from 2009, provide Commonwealth funding to
non-government and government schools.[1] In a major legislative change these new
arrangements will now include appropriations for Indigenous school
education. Six Indigenous education programs in the school sector
currently funded through the IETA Act will be consolidated into one
per capita payment the Indigenous Supplementary Assistance
(ISA).[2] An
estimated $663.4 million in final 2008 prices, or two-thirds of the
appropriations for the 2005-2008 quadrennium, will transfer from
appropriations under the IETA Act to the new arrangements for
school funding.[3]
The IETA Act will
continue to provide funding for Indigenous education programs and
Indigenous students, largely but not exclusively in the non-school
sectors. Through the proposed section 14B the Bill
will appropriate $640.5 million for 2009 2013. However after
funding arrangements for early childhood initiatives ($160 million)
and vocational education and training are finalised in 2009 the
IETA Act will fund non-ABSTUDY remnant projects which might be
described as those not funded on a per capita basis such as the
Parent School Partnerships Initiative, boarding schools, the
Indigenous Youth Mobility Program and sporting academies; projects
funded through third party providers such as the Indigenous
festivals; and funding to assist tertiary students such as the
Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme (tertiary component).
Since 1999 the IETA Act has also authorised
payments from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the Mixed-mode
Away-from-base ABSTUDY payments which are paid to education
providers for the costs of ABSTUDY recipients to access intensive
residential courses as part of a distance education course.[4] These payments will
continue under Section 13 of the IETA Act.[5]
The Labor Government s policy on Indigenous
Affairs is focussed on closing the substantial gaps that exist
between the socio-economic outcomes of the Indigenous and
non-Indigenous population. In the Prime Minister s speech on the
apology to Indigenous Australians he stated:
Our challenge for the future is [to] embrace a
new partnership between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
the core of this partnership for the future is to closing the gap
between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians on life
expectancy, educational achievement and employment opportunities.
This new partnership on closing the gap will set concrete targets
for the future: within a decade to halve the widening gap in
literacy, numeracy and employment outcomes and opportunities for
Indigenous children, within a decade to halve the appalling gap in
infant mortality rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous
children and, within a generation, to close the equally appalling
17-year life gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous.[6]
During the election campaign in November 2007
the Australian Labor Party announced a range of measures to improve
education outcomes of Indigenous students including a promise to
expand intensive literacy and numeracy programs in our schools the
development of individual learning plans for Indigenous students
[to] invest in building three new secondary boarding colleges in
the Northern Territory .. and [provide funding] for 200 additional
teachers for the Northern Territory. [7]
These commitments totalling $184.1 million
were funded under the 2008 09 Budget measure Closing the gap for
Indigenous Australians .[8] Appropriations for 2008 were made through amendments to
the IETA Act.[9]
Further appropriations to 2012 including the budget measures for
intensive literacy and numeracy programs and individual learning
plans are included in the new amounts in proposed section
14B[10].
Although the Coalition Government did not set
a timetable to achieve such a goal, the Labor Government s aim to
close the gaps in outcomes is not unlike that of the previous
Government s. Furthermore the Government continues the policy of
providing a greater weighting of resources towards Indigenous
students in remote areas where disadvantage is greatest. The Labor
Government will continue funding initiatives introduced by the
former government such as the Indigenous Youth Mobility Program and
sporting academies.[11]
The major departure in the Bill, together with
provisions in the Schools Assistance Act and foreshadowed changes
under the National Education Agreement, is the dismantling of the
IETA Act as the legislative basis and funding for Indigenous
education programmes. This policy change is illustrated by the
consolidation of targeted school programs into the Indigenous
Supplementary Assistance (ISA) under the new school funding
arrangements. The ISA will allow more freedom for schools to spend
funds and develop programs in ways best suited to meet the
objectives of closing the gap on literacy and numeracy rates,
participation and retention. This will benefit those schools (and
their students) with enthusiastic staff and communities who know
what initiatives work for their school and how to best utilise the
one payment. However it is possible targeted initiatives such as
Tutorial Assistance, Homework Centres and strategies for students
whose second language is English may disappear from other
schools.
The policy change will increase funding
through a change in the indexation mechanism: from the Wage Cost
Index no. 1 used under the IETA Act to the Average Government
School Recurrent Costs (AGSRC) used for schools funding.
The Bill provides for a total of $742.6
million[12]
through
- the appropriation of $640.5 million in final 2008 prices for
non-ABSTUDY payments[13]
- an estimated $102.1 million for ABSTUDY (Away From Base)
payments to be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Schedule 1 deals with the
amendments to the Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance)
Act 2000
Item 6 inserts a
proposed section 14B with appropriations for
non-ABSTUDY payments from January 2009 to June 2013 totalling
$640.5 million.
Item 7 substitutes new
conditions in section 17A dealing with annual report
requirements.
Section 17A of the IETA Act requires a report
to Parliament on the progress of Indigenous education and training
to be tabled after each funding year. Existing section 17A lists
eight areas which must be dealt with in the report.
Proposed section 17A deletes these detailed
requirements, instead stipulating the report deal with payments and
performance information under agreements made under this Act .
Since 2001 the National Report to
Parliament on Indigenous Education and Training has provided
details of equity and access provisions, funding and indicators
across all sectors disaggregated to the state and territory level.
With the move of school programs, and possible changes to
vocational education and early childhood provisions, out of the
IETA Act the reporting requirements on Indigenous education and
training may prove to be inconsistent across sectors and published
in a diverse range of sources dependant on the reporting
requirements of other Acts.
Schedules 2 and 4 deal with
consequential and technical amendments to the Indigenous
Education (Targeted Assistance) Act 2000, the Australian
Technical Colleges (Flexibility in Achieving Australia s Skills
Needs) Act 2005 and the Schools Assistance (Learning
Together Achievement Through Choice and Opportunity) Act 2004
to reflect the provisions of the proposed Schools Assistance
Act.
The Bill, along with the Schools Assistance
Bill and foreshadowed changes to be introduced with the National
Education Agreement, makes a major departure to the legislative
basis and funding for Indigenous education programmes. For the
first time since 1989 provision of targeted assistance to
Indigenous education will be mainstreamed through a number of Acts
and agreements and targeted programs for school students will be
rolled into one Indigenous Supplementary Assistance.
The diverse sources of reporting, such as
various legislative requirements and non legislative mechanisms
such as the annual Prime Ministerial statement on closing the gap
between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians[14], may prove problematic in
gaining a concise and consistent understanding of targeted
assistance and its outcomes. Yet such data will be crucial in
understanding if the Government s new approach to Indigenous
education is on target in meeting its aim of halving gaps within a
decade.
Coral Dow
13 October 2008
Bills Digest Service
Parliamentary Library
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