Page 870 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 9 March 2016
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All members of a school community are responsible for contributing to a safe and supportive school environment where bullying, harassment and violence are not tolerated.
Twenty-three of the 87 ACT public schools are members of the Safe Schools Coalition, and one independent school has joined as well. The Safe Schools Coalition focus is predominantly in secondary schools, but they will provide advice to primary schools on request. The Safe Schools Coalition provides free resources and support to equip staff and students with skills, practical ideas and greater confidence to lead positive change and be safe and inclusive for same-sex-attracted, intersex and gender-diverse students, staff and families.
There has been positive feedback about the Safe Schools Coalition from ACT public schools, and the advice provided by the Safe Schools Coalition to schools and other support staff is highly valued. That is the feedback that the ACT education directorate has received, and I think that is really important to reflect on in light of some of the comments we have seen—that this support is highly valued.
The Safe Schools Coalition has supported the development of an ACT principals network to discuss the needs and challenges of students who are gender questioning. Feedback from the eight principals taking part has been very positive and has allowed the schools to effectively support the students who are gender questioning.
Each school makes its own decision on whether it joins the Safe Schools Coalition. Schools have a variety of ways to communicate to their school communities, and most schools have used their school newsletter to inform parents of their membership of the Safe Schools Coalition. The Safe Schools Coalition is meeting an identified need for support of schools to meet the needs of same-sex-attracted, transgender and intersex students, staff and families.
As we know, the federal government has ordered a departmental review into the safe schools program, which receives $8 million in funding under a four-year contract. The federal government has indicated that the review will focus on the appropriateness of the resources, and will be undertaken by Bill Louden from the University of Western Australia and Professor Donna Cross, also from UWA.
Despite announcing the review into the program, Senator Birmingham agrees that there should be support for students struggling with sexual identity, so that is a positive. I have received a letter from Senator Birmingham in regard to this issue, asking the ACT to confirm that parents are being consulted before schools introduce the program. I understand this concern may have come from Senator Cory Bernadi’s criticism that children and schools were being bullied into participating.
I will be shortly responding to the federal minister for education, reinforcing the ACT’s positive experience with the program and seeking to ensure that the review is designed to strengthen the Safe Schools Coalition. The ACT government does not want to see a political witch-hunt here. We want to see an evidence-based review. I am happy to support a review that is evidence based, but it should not be a forum to
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