Page 4146 - Week 13 - Thursday, 27 November 2014
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In September of this year, the commonwealth Assistant Minister for Education, Ms Sussan Ley, announced that the Australian government will commit $406 million for the 2015 year to ensure families can continue to access up to 15 hours of preschool education per week. However, it was not until late last month that the Prime Minister wrote to the Chief Minister seeking agreement and signature for the agreement for next year. This offer was made on a take it or leave it basis, with a one-month consideration period, with the ACT required to sign by 30 November this year. We have since received an extension of that date.
Under this new national partnership, the ACT is forecast to receive approximately $6.8 million, which compares to the 2014 school year amount of $6.9 million, with funding supporting service delivery through 2015.
However, and I must stress this, while the Australian government has branded the national partnership as an extension agreement, there are significant changes when compared to the existing agreement. In my opinion, it is not correct to call the new offer a continuation of the existing agreement. This is a substantial new agreement which expands the scope of the previous agreement without increasing the funding available.
The new agreement includes changes to the proposed funding distribution and increases the amount of funding which can be withheld if not all performance benchmarks are achieved. These changes occur with limited implementation time, no additional funding, and little acknowledgement of the jurisdictional context. Nor has the Australian government provided clarity regarding ongoing funding beyond 2015. I raised these significant changes and potential issues recently at the Education Council meeting, on 31 October this year, where a number of other states and territories also supported and raised concerns.
Further, the Chief Minister has written to the Prime Minister proposing that the existing national partnership agreement be extended for 2015 without change. While we have yet to receive formal response from the Australian government, negotiations are proceeding at an officer level. While the ACT government will continue to negotiate with the commonwealth in good faith, it is disappointing that such a level of uncertainty continues to remain so close to the end of this year. I am hopeful that we will see a resolution in the near future to allow our services to plan appropriately so that the commitments made on service delivery for next year can be continued.
I table the following paper:
Early Childhood Education—Future of the National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access—Statement by leave, dated November 2014.
I move:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
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