5th Jun 2013, 11:48 AM – Representatives Bills - Australian Education Bill 2012; Consideration in Detail

The Aye votes succeeded in passing amendments proposed by the Gillard Government in support of the Australian Education Bill. This vote means that the amendments will be included in the legislation.

Someone who votes aye for this amendment supports these measures. The measures in this legislation includes clarification on the main aim of this legislation.

Summary of debate in Parliament

The debate in Parliament focused on discrepancies between the Coalition Opposition and the Labor Government about when these amendments were circulated. The Coalition argued that they did not receive the text of the proposed amendments with enough time to spare, and Labor argued that they did circulate the amendments in time.

Background to Bill

This Bill was developed in response to the Review of Funding for Schooling, commissioned by David Gonski (known as the 'Gonski Review'). The Report explored the issue of the decline of performance in Australian school children over the past 10 years and the gap between the highest and lowest performing students. The Report found that the current funding model for Australian schools was unnecessarily complex and proposed a new funding system. As an alternative, a new funding model was proposed. This included a base 'per student' fee that is to be set for a student at any school. Additional loadings would be paid for disadvantage such as disability, low socioencomic background, school size, remoteness, number of Aboriginal students and lack of English proficiency.

In response the Gillard government developed the National Plan for School Improvement. This Bill gives the Commonwealth greater involvement in public and private schools. The NPSI supports the main idea of the funding model established in the Gonski review. There are some differences in the recommendations in the Gonski review and the Australian Education Bill.

The Bill was criticised by the Coalition, the Greens and the Independents Rob Oakshott and Tony Windsor for being rhetoric but with little substantive policy. The Bill does not establish specific provisions regarding funding arrangements. Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland have not signed up to the NPSI.

More information about the Bill and the context surrounding it can be found here here.