Page 3670 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 13 September 2017
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with these children. The education system that I will foster will strive to be inclusive of all children; it will embrace difference, because the government respects diversity in our society.
The report of the expert panel was delivered in November 2015, with 50 recommendations for both the government and non-government schools. The government accepted on behalf of all schools in the ACT that each recommendation had merit and therefore agreed or agreed in principle to the recommendations. Of the 50 recommendations, 49 related to government schools, while only 26 related to non-government schools. Mr Wall would know this if he had read the report, the government response, the quarterly updates since 2016 and the end-of-year report provided by the cross-sector schools for all program board. Instead he has gone on the radio today and misled the community by claiming that non-government schools have implemented 49 of the 50 recommendations when 24 do not even relate to this sector.
He might also know that, although the government and the Catholic Education Office agreed or agreed in principle to all 50 recommendations, the Catholic Education Office is implementing the 26 recommendations relating to its schools. The Association of Independent Schools noted all 26 that related to non-government schools on the basis that the member schools that they represent are independent. I can only hope that Mr Wall will go back on the radio and correct himself.
Mr Wall’s motion and his remarks target government schools, teachers and staff. I will not stand aside and let this happen without a strong defence. The scale of the task for the government schools is large. From the outset the government made it clear that it was embarking on a three-year program of work to implement the schools for all recommendations.
As Mr Rattenbury, as Minister for Education at the time, stated in April 2016:
… the Schools for All program is to be implemented over three years, to ensure it is done correctly and with the appropriate policies, systems and supports in place.
We are only halfway through this process. Right from the start of the program, the government established an expert, independent oversight group, which initially included Emeritus Professor Tony Shaddock, an author of the report, to oversee the implementation of the recommendations.
It was not just the government deciding to take a methodical approach to implementing the recommendations. In November 2016 the schools for all oversight group advised the government to take more time than was initially contemplated to consult and be considered about implementing the recommendations. That was the advice of the schools for all oversight group to the government. In doing this, the government has been able to ensure, led by the oversight group, that the work occurring is rigorous, of a high standard and creating enduring change.
Implementing recommendations like those in the schools for all report takes thought, time, consultation, a mature and steady hand and consideration of other related
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