Page 5673 - Week 13 - Thursday, 18 November 2010
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MS BURCH: I will say again: I was not aware of the complete contents of the material in the bag and I apologise for any offence caused.
MR COE: A supplementary question, Mr Speaker?
MR SPEAKER: Yes, Mr Coe.
MR COE: Minister, do your actions in promoting gambling to minors comply with the ministerial code of conduct?
MS BURCH: I think I have said that the material was inappropriate. I stand by that, and I apologise to those concerned.
Education—efficiency dividend
MS HUNTER: My question is to the Minister for Education and Training and concerns the current efficiency dividend process in the Department of Education and Training. Minister, can you provide an update on the consultation process that has followed the release of the revised efficiency dividend paper on 19 October?
MR BARR: I am happy to provide the member with some detail in relation to this. She would be aware of an initial consultation paper that was distributed amongst staff in the Department of Education and Training towards the end of September of this year. That then led to, I believe, a three-week consultation period with the broader community where a variety of views were clearly made known to the department in relation to its initial proposal.
Subsequent to that consultation period, the department modified its proposal and published a revised position, together with some explanatory material, a question and answer sheet and some further information specifically in relation to disability education on its website last month, in October. The department has then gone through a further consultation round with staff, particularly those who of course will be impacted by changes to the central office structure.
A number of staff will be moving back into schools, as part of this restructure is to move some positions out of the central office and back directly into schools, and those staff are going through the appropriate round of job applications and the appropriate staffing reviews that occur annually in terms of placing teachers back into the school system. There is an annual round of teaching positions that come up within the department and within the schooling system.
The average turnover in terms of staff positions is in the order of six or seven per cent a year, I understand, so there are a couple of hundred positions through transfer rounds and whatnot that occur around making placements for teachers within the schooling system. That is a regular occurrence at this time of year to ensure that teachers know in advance of the new school year where they will be deployed for the coming school year. That process, I understand, is nearing conclusion and all staff who were affected by any changes associated with the efficiency dividend and the
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