Recommendations
Recommendation 1 (commit to implementation of the
NPSI)
The committee believes that the significant consensus
achieved from the Gonski Review and the agreements negotiated under the
National Plan for School Improvement (NPSI) must not be lost with the current
government's harmful and confusing changes. The committee recommends the
Australian Government honour its pre-election commitments to fully implement
the national needs-based, sector‑blind funding model incorporated in the
NPSI to improve equity across Australian schools. In particular, the Australian
Government should commit to the following elements of the NPSI:
-
the six year transition to a nationally consistent Schooling
Resource Standard;
-
maintain the commitments made under the National Education
Reform Agreement (NERA) and bilateral agreements with participating states and
territories, in particular the five areas of the NPSI:
-
quality teaching
-
quality learning
-
empowered school leadership
-
meeting student need
-
greater transparency and accountability; and
-
conduct reviews prescribed under the NERA and strive for
equitable funding for schools most in need.
Recommendation 2 (non-participating
states)
The committee recommends that the government work with
non-participating states and territories to:
-
maintain the existing education spending of all
non-participating states and territories;
-
ensure appropriate indexation of education spending for all
non‑participating states and territories;
-
ensure that adequate co-contribution arrangements are agreed
by all non‑participating states and territories to establish a national
School Resource Standard; and
-
achieve agreement with non-participating states and
territories to the national funding model and NPSI established under the Australian
Education Act 2013.
Recommendation 3 (disability
loading)
The committee recommends that
the government moves, as a matter of urgency, to a disability loading based on
actual student need. To this end, the committee recommends that data collection
and decisions about the loading for students with a disability should be
expedited so as to provide certainty around a needs-based disability loading to
replace the temporary arrangements in 2015. This must happen in close
consultation with advocacy groups, the various school sectors and states and
territories.
Recommendation 4 (disability
loading)
The committee recommends the Federal Government honours its
election commitment for increased funding to cover unmet need for students with
a disability.
Further, the committee recommends that the government works
with all states, territories and advocacy groups to clarify the interaction
between the disability loading and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Recommendation 5 (disability
loading)
The committee recommends that
information assisting parents and carers of students with a disability be
produced and distributed as soon as possible.
Recommendation 6 (federal-state
relations and accountability)
The committee recommends
that the Department of Education produce an annual 'report card' detailing the
breakdown of school funding including:
-
funding provided to states and territories (participating and
non‑participating) and non-government schools by sector;
-
comparable information contributed by state and territory
governments about their school funding;
-
the extent to which these arrangements are achieving equitable
funding to schools and students in most need; and
-
funding broken down to a school level.
Recommendation 7 (indexation
rate post 2017)
The committee recommends
that the Australian Government should reinstate an appropriate indexation rate
for school funding. The government should ensure that Commonwealth school
funding is not cut in real terms by adopting a more realistic indexation rate that
ensures annual indexation is not below actual cost pressures. The committee
notes that the previously agreed rates increased Commonwealth funding at
4.7 per cent per annum and states' contributions at 3 per cent per annum.
Recommendation 8 (ongoing
scrutiny)
The committee recommends the
Senate pay particular regard to:
-
any further cuts to Commonwealth or state education funding;
-
the effect on Commonwealth-state relations with any further
cuts or changes, particularly the effect on states' ability to adequately fund
schools; and
-
any reviews conducted or amendments proposed to the Australian
Education Act 2013.
The committee also recommends that the Senate refer any
amendments proposed to the Australian Education Act 2013 to the Senate
Education and Employment Legislation Committee for inquiry and report.
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