National School Chaplaincy Program

The majority agreed with Liberal Senator Guy Barnett's motion that the National School Chaplaincy Program should be continued.

Wording of the motion

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) the National School Chaplaincy Program (the program) was introduced by the former Coalition Government in the 2007-08 financial year with a commitment of $165 million for its first 3 years,

(ii) the program offers pastoral care, spiritual guidance and counselling in a range of areas such as bullying, mental health, family relationships and drug and alcohol abuse, operates in 2 700 schools and enjoys strong support among principals, schools and in the community generally,

(iii) the Coalition has announced that if elected, it will continue funding the program at present levels on an ongoing basis,

(iv) the Government has been forced to respond and has extended funding for the program, at a reduced level, for another year until the end of 2011, after which time there may be no more funding despite the program’s social benefits, sound administration and strong community support, and

(v) the Government’s announcement does not go far enough and does not allow for any new chaplains to be engaged and, as a result, does not provide certainty into the future for chaplains; and therefore

(b) calls on the Government to make a commitment to extend the program to new schools that apply for a chaplain and to maintain current levels of funding into the future on an ongoing basis.