Parliament of Australia:House:Committees:Education and Employment:Advisory Report Australian Education Bill 2012

Preliminary pages

Membership of the Committee

Chair	Ms Amanda Rishworth MP (until 22 April 2013)
	Mr Mike Symon MP (from 2 May 2013)
Deputy Chair	Mr Rowan Ramsey MP
Members	Mrs Karen Andrews MP
	The Hon Chris Bowen MP (from 22 April 2013)
	Mrs Yvette D’Ath MP (until 13 February 2013)
	Ms Deborah O’Neill MP
	Mr Graham Perrett MP (from 13 February 2013)
	Mr Alan Tudge MP
Supplementary Member for the purpose of the Inquiry
	Mr Alex Hawke MP

Committee Secretariat

Secretary	Dr Glenn Worthington
Inquiry Secretary	Ms Sara Edson
Senior Research Officer	Ms Lauren Wilson
Research Officer	Ms Casey Mazzarella
Administrative Officers	Mr Daniel Miletic
	Ms Emily Costello

Terms of reference

On 29 November 2012, the House of Representatives Selection Committee referred the Australian Education Bill 2012 for inquiry and report.

List of abbreviations

AACS	Australian Association of Christian Schools
ACE	Australian College of Educators
ACSSO	Australian Council of State School Organisations
AEU	Australian Education Union
AFDO	Australian Federation of Disability Organisations
AGSRC	Average Government School Recurrent Costs
AHISA	Association of Heads of Independent Schools Australia
APC	Australian Parents Council
APPA	Australian Primary Principals Association
APTA	Australian Professional Teachers Association
ASEPA	Australian Special Education Principals Association
ASPA	Australian Secondary Principals Association
Bill	Australian Education Bill 2012
COAG	Council of Australian Governments
CSA	Christian Schools Australia
DEEWR	Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
FYA	Foundation for Young Australians
Gonski Review	Review of funding for schooling
GRGs	General resource grants
ICPA	Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association
ICPA-NSW	Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association of New South Wales
ICPA-Qld	Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association of Queensland
IEU	Independent Education Union
ISCA	Independent Schools Council of Australia
ISQ	Independent Schools Queensland
ISV	Independent Schools Victoria
MCEECDYA	Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs
Melbourne Declaration	Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians
National Plan	National Plan for School Improvement
NCEC	National Catholic Education Commission
NDSIRG	National Disability Strategy Implementation Reference Group
NERA	National Education Reform Agreement
NISSA	National Independent Special Schools Association
NPs	National Partnerships
NSSPP	National Schools Specific Purpose Payment
OECD	Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
P&C NSW	Parents and Citizens’ Federation of New South Wales
PPI	Public Policy Institute
SA-ASPC	South Australian Association of School Parents Clubs
SEA	Steiner Education Australia
SES	Socioeconomic status
SRS	Schooling Resource Standard

List of recommendations

2 Feedback from school communities

Recommendation 1

The Committee recommends that the Preamble of the Australian Education Bill 2012 be amended to include the educational outcomes as agreed in the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians 2008.

Recommendation 2

The Committee recommends that the Australian Education Bill be amended to give specific reference to parents in the Preamble of the Bill in recognition of the integral role parents play in the attainment of excellent educational outcomes for all Australian students.

Recommendation 3

The Committee recommends the following definition of ‘highly equitable’ be inserted into clause 4 of the Australian Education Bill:

Recommendation 4

The Committee recommends in order to meet professional, parent and community concerns that in addition to vital numeracy and literacy skill development, testing and reporting that there be a range of evidence seeking instruments located or developed to ensure that the broader, holistic Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians 2008 are also assessed and reported on in transparent and easily accessible forms that contain meaningful data.

Recommendation 5

The Committee recommends that the House of Representatives pass the Australian Education Bill 2012 with the amendments outlined in this advisory report.