Page 974 - Week 03 - Thursday, 10 March 2016
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Members of the committee were: Mr Craig Curry, the chair; Mr Alastair MacGibbon, Australia’s Children’s eSafety Commissioner, Ms Samantha Yorke from Google Australia, public policy and government affairs; Ms Charuni Weerasooriya, former president of the Association of Parents and Friends of ACT Schools; Ms Belinda Bartlett, the principal of Alfred Deakin High School; Mr Matthew Purcell, information and software technology teacher at Canberra Grammar School and Microsoft leading educator for 2014; Mr Thomas Duck, a student at Mount Stromlo High School; and Mr Mark Huxley, the Chief Information Officer in the Education Directorate.
A reference group on digital citizenship was also formed and included: students from each sector—public, Catholic and independent schools; staff from the directorate, Catholic Education and Association of Independent Schools; members of the ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations and APFACTS; members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body; representatives of the ACT Youth Coalition; representatives of the Australian Education Union and the Independent Education Union; and sergeants of ACT Policing.
Again I thank all the people and organisations who supported the committee for their valued participation and input into the final report.
The committee identified the essential ingredients to success and the shared responsibility of parents, students and schools to become better digital citizens. The report provides some very tangible resources available to schools and parents, including the Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner website, Google safety centre, Facebook safety centre, and Safe Schools Hub.
The committee’s final report included six key recommendations as well as focusing on what best practice looks like and how it might be achieved in ACT schools. The directorate has responded to these recommendations as outlined in the response. The directorate agrees with all recommendations in the report and will continue to work closely with Catholic Education and the Association of Independent Schools to implement the recommendations.
Digital citizenship will continue to remain a key focus for schools, and technology will be a powerful influence on students and learning techniques. We will ensure that students and school communities are partners in the digital world. There are tangible recommendations from the report that will be implemented over the coming year, and I look forward to continuing the conversation on digital citizenship in our schools.
I commend the report and the directorate response to the Assembly.
Planning, Environment and Territory and Municipal Services—Standing Committee
Report 11—government response
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Planning and Land Management, Minister for Racing and Gaming and Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations) (3.35): For the information of members I present the following paper:
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