Education and Employment References Committee

Wendy Askew

At the request of Senators Henderson, O'Sullivan and Brockman, I move:

That the following matter be referred to the Education and Employment References Committee for inquiry and report by 12 September 2024:

The issue of declining academic standards in Australian schools, with specific reference to:

(a) students' proficiency in literacy and numeracy;

(b) the experience of principals, teachers and parents in meeting the challenge of raising academic standards;

(c) the extent to which the experience of other countries with high or markedly high academic standards can inform Australian schools;

(d) what support could be provided to teachers and what improvements could be made to the Australian Curriculum to raise academic standards in Australian schools; and

(e) any other related matters.

Katy Gallagher

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Sue Lines

Leave is granted for one minute.

Katy Gallagher

The government will not be supporting this motion. It's a bit late for the coalition to be proposing this. Their record for almost a decade in government was school attendance down, high school completions down and teacher shortages up, and now they want a review. We've already done the review. The O'Brien review had a team of eminent experts visit 92 schools, hold 137 stakeholder meetings and consider 266 submissions from parents, students, teachers and experts. We have a 248-page report from them and we're getting on with the proper funding of schools and tying that funding to reforms that will lift student outcomes. I'm not sure what Senator Henderson thinks she can tell us that these experts have not.

Penny Allman-Payne

I seek leave to make a one-minute statement.

Leave granted.

I want to put on the record that the Greens, too, will be voting against this motion. Since the Gonski review we have had over 30 inquiries into schools and how they operate. We know what works; we have to get on and do it. It is insulting to every teacher and educator in the country that we are continually subjected to review. No other profession in this country is as reviewed as teachers and education. The reason we are in this mess is that we have systematically underfunded public schools for over a decade. The time for reviews needs to end. We need to get on, fund our schools and support our teachers in those schools.

Sue Lines

The question is that the motion moved by Senator Askew, at the request of Senators Henderson, O'Sullivan and Brockman, be agreed to.