Page 4313 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 13 October 2009

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the ACT participated and not one of them was a government school. In response to serious allegations of large-scale systemic bullying brought to me by families of children at Kingsford Smith school earlier this year, Minister Barr has said that “only six students from a population of around 750 have been involved in bullying incidents”. This equates to less than one per cent of the student population, according to the minister.

The DEEWR study results found that 27.7 per cent of children in government schools nationwide experience bullying. However, it could be argued that this number is much higher in some schools, as many incidents are simply not reported to teachers. If the ACT were properly represented in this study, would the minister’s figures stack up? Has the minister got a clear picture of how prevalent bullying is in ACT schools? If not, what is he, as minister, going to do to find out about it?

A better understanding of how prevalent both covert and overt bullying is would prove the effectiveness of counter-bullying measures currently in place and would also enable a greater understanding of the needs. It may prompt something more than a token amendment to the Education Act, and may prompt some real acknowledgement of a very real problem in ACT schools.

The opposition will be supporting, in principle, the Education Amendment Bill 2009 but will be presenting our own amendments which will address not just the suspension period but the remedial action that needs to be taken during the suspension period.

MS PORTER (Ginninderra) (11.28): I am pleased to support the Education Amendment Bill 2009—the suspensions. The minister has outlined for members of this Assembly the purpose of suspension, why the changes are necessary and, importantly, what is done to work with and support students whose behaviour threatens the safety and wellbeing of students and staff and disrupts learning of themselves and others.

Our schools are safe places. However, it is acknowledged that there are students who at times demonstrate aggressive and antisocial behaviour. This behaviour can serve to erode the sense of safety of people in the school community and undermines the broader community’s confidence in schooling.

Suspensions work hand in hand with other approaches to divert young people from antisocial pathways and to re-engage in their schooling. Diversion from antisocial pathways and re-engagement in schooling can only be accomplished when we work as one government and one community.

Contemporary practice in this vital area tells us that we need to engage with, or indeed create, the system of support that will guide young people to pro-social outcomes. This practice takes time, and it is this time that this amendment aims to provide for the principal in responding to antisocial behaviour and supporting students.

Members will recall that I moved a motion in this place in the last sitting about the importance of restorative justice and the practice of that in our ACT schools as one of the strategies that schools can apply to assist young people who engage in inappropriate behaviour. Restorative justice practice has been shown to work


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