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Indigenous Education (Supplementary Assistance) Amendment Bill 1997
Date Introduced: 18 June 1997
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs
Commencement: Royal Assent
To amend the Indigenous Education (Supplementary Assistance) Act 1989 (Cwlth) (the Principal Act) in order to:
Indigenous education has been the subject of a large number of national reports during the past twenty years - beginning with a 1975 report by the Aboriginal Consultative Group to the Schools Commission. Most recently there was a National Review of Education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples chaired by Mandawuy Yunupingu. The review was established in 1993 and reported in 1994.(1)
In 1988, an Aboriginal Education Policy Task Force was appointed by the Minister for Employment, Education and Training and the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. The Task Force's report proposed the establishment of a national Aboriginal Education Policy (AEP). The AEP (now called the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy) was developed co-operatively by the Commonwealth, the States and the Territories in 1989 and emphasised 'involvement, access, participation and outcomes.' The importance of the Policy has been described in these terms:
... for the first time, the States and the Territories were able to identify and unanimously support a series of national goals for indigenous education; the Policy facilitated many new initiatives that created a national focus on indigenous education and raised the profile of the issue; the Policy was based on a triennial funding model enabling, for the first time, longer term planning for programs; and the national Policy included a supplementary funding program, the Aboriginal Education Strategic Initiatives Scheme, to fill the gaps in the programs of the States and Territories.'(2)
The establishment of the Policy was followed by the enactment of the Aboriginal Education (Supplementary Assistance) Act 1989 which provides funds for what is now called the Indigenous Education Strategic Initiatives Program (IESIP).
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy has four long term objectives:
The NATIEP also sets down 21 agreed goals for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education covering all education sectors, to be pursued by all governments. The policy was re-affirmed by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs in 1995.
IESIP is part of the Commonwealth's contribution to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy. It provides funds to organisations and institutions to supplement the cost of delivering educational services to Aboriginal people. The program supports pre-schools, primary and secondary schools, and technical and further education. The funding is provided by the Commonwealth as a supplement to the normal provision of funds for education to the States and Territories.
The National Review of Education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples reported in 1994 that educational experiences for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples improved 'in the last five years'. However, the Review found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continued to be 'the most educationally disadvantaged groups in Australia.' Among other things, the Review's Summary and Recommendations states that:
In 1996, the Principal Act was amended by the Indigenous Education (Supplementary Assistance) Amendment Act 1996 (the 1996 Act). Among other things, the 1996 Act provided statutory criteria for funding for supplementary recurrent expenditure to certain schools, pre-schools and other institutions. Eligibility criteria and formulae to be applied to determine a per capita amount for each educational sector were inserted by sections 10B to 10F.(6) Section 10A sets out a per capita funding table.
Amendments included in the Indigenous Education (Supplementary Assistance) Amendment Bill 1997 relate to certain non-government schools(7) and non-government VET institutions(8) which are covered by sections 10D, 10E and 10F. The amendments in the 1997 Bill relate to the eligibility criteria which must be satisfied before the Minister can authorise a payment to those schools and institutions. According to the Explanatory Memorandum:
The non-government Schools Census shows that out of a total of 10,853 Indigenous students enrolled in non-government schools, 1,428 (13%) of these students attend non-systemic schools in which the Indigenous enrolments are less than 10% of the total enrolment. There is one school, for example, which has 70 Indigenous students out of a total enrolment of more than 700 and does not attract supplementary recurrent per capita funding because it fails the 10% requirement.(9)
Schedule 1 of the Bill relates to the funding of education for Indigenous students. Item 1 of Schedule 1 repeals paragraph 10D(1)(c) of the Principal Act. Paragraph 10D(1)(c) provides that the Minister may authorise a payment for a funding year for a non-government non-systemic school if a number of criteria are met. At present, these criteria include a requirement that the Indigenous students enrolled for a year at the school number 20 or more and constitute 10% or more of the total number of students.
Item 1 repeals present paragraph 10D(1)(c) and replaces it with new paragraph 10D(1)(c) which removes the 10% requirement but retains the requirement that the number of Indigenous students at the school number 20 or more.
Item 2 of Schedule 1 repeals paragraph 10E(1)(c) of the Principal Act. At present, paragraph 10E(1)(c) provides that the Minister may authorise a payment to a non-systemic non-government pre-school for a funding year if a number of criteria are met. These criteria include a requirement that Indigenous students enrolled for a year at the school number 5 or more and constitute 10% or more of the total number of students at the school. Item 2 of Schedule 1 inserts new paragraph 10E(1)(c) which removes the 10% requirement but retains the requirement that the number of Indigenous students at the school must number 5 or more.
Item 3 of Schedule 1 repeals paragraph 10F(1)(c). Present paragraph 10F(1)(c) provides that the Minister may authorise funding to a non-government VET institution if a number of criteria are met. These include that the Indigenous students at the institution number 20 or more and constitute 10% of the enrolled students at the institution. Item 3 inserts new paragraph 10F(1)(c) which removes the 10% requirement but retains the requirement that the number of Indigenous students at the institution number 20 or more.
The Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill states that:
The 10% requirement has had the unforeseen and undesired consequence of denying supplementary financial assistance from the Commonwealth to educational institutions with significant Indigenous enrolments. ... The 10% requirement is not necessary given the continuation of the additional requirement of the principal [sic] Act that the relevant educational institutions have a minimum number of Indigenous students ...(10)
Schedule 2 of the Bill relates to cost supplementation. Item 1 of Schedule 2 inserts new section 13C which has the effect of enabling appropriations under the Principal Act to be supplemented by an indexed amount which is to be fixed by regulation.
Item 2 of Schedule 2 inserts new section 15 into the Principal Act. New section 15 enables the Governor-General to make regulations under the Act.
Jennifer Norberry
28 August 1997
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ISSN 1328-8091
Commonwealth of Australia 1997
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library, 1997.
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Last updated: 29 August 1997