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| Tony Abbott sets goal to close gap on Indigenous school attendance | Tony Abbott sets goal to close gap on Indigenous school attendance |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Tony Abbott has set a new goal of closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous school attendance within five years, saying a failure to properly educate children was “one of the worst forms of neglect”. | Tony Abbott has set a new goal of closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous school attendance within five years, saying a failure to properly educate children was “one of the worst forms of neglect”. |
| The prime minister flagged the additional target as he presented a mixed picture to parliament in the annual update on progress in reducing Indigenous disadvantage. The government’s job was to “break the tyranny of low expectations”, he said. | The prime minister flagged the additional target as he presented a mixed picture to parliament in the annual update on progress in reducing Indigenous disadvantage. The government’s job was to “break the tyranny of low expectations”, he said. |
| In 2008 the Council of Australian Governments (Coag) set six targets to bridge the gap in outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, including ensuring all Indigenous four-year-olds in remote communities had access to early childhood education by 2013. The latest report shows that in August 2012, 88% of Indigenous children in remote areas were enrolled in a pre-school program in the year before full-time schooling. | In 2008 the Council of Australian Governments (Coag) set six targets to bridge the gap in outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, including ensuring all Indigenous four-year-olds in remote communities had access to early childhood education by 2013. The latest report shows that in August 2012, 88% of Indigenous children in remote areas were enrolled in a pre-school program in the year before full-time schooling. |
| “We are already close to meeting the target to have 95% of remote children enrolled for pre-school – and should soon know what percentage are actually attending as well as just enrolled,” Abbott told parliament on Wednesday. | “We are already close to meeting the target to have 95% of remote children enrolled for pre-school – and should soon know what percentage are actually attending as well as just enrolled,” Abbott told parliament on Wednesday. |
| “And the target to halve the gap in year 12 attainment by 2020 is also on track to be met.” | “And the target to halve the gap in year 12 attainment by 2020 is also on track to be met.” |
| Abbott said the country was also on track to meet the target to halve the gap in child mortality within a decade, but had made “almost no progress” in closing the 10-year gap in life expectancy by 2031. | Abbott said the country was also on track to meet the target to halve the gap in child mortality within a decade, but had made “almost no progress” in closing the 10-year gap in life expectancy by 2031. |
| He said there had also been very little improvement towards halving the gap in reading, writing and numeracy and Indigenous employment had “slipped backwards over the past few years”. | He said there had also been very little improvement towards halving the gap in reading, writing and numeracy and Indigenous employment had “slipped backwards over the past few years”. |
| “We are not on track to achieve the more important and meaningful targets, because it’s hard to be literate and numerate without attending school, it’s hard to find work without a basic education, and it’s hard to live well without a job,” Abbott said. | “We are not on track to achieve the more important and meaningful targets, because it’s hard to be literate and numerate without attending school, it’s hard to find work without a basic education, and it’s hard to live well without a job,” Abbott said. |
| “We are all passionate to close the gap. We may be doomed to fail – I fear – until we achieve the most basic target of all: the expectation that every child will attend school every day. Generally speaking, the more remote the school, the more excuses are made for poor attendance.” | “We are all passionate to close the gap. We may be doomed to fail – I fear – until we achieve the most basic target of all: the expectation that every child will attend school every day. Generally speaking, the more remote the school, the more excuses are made for poor attendance.” |
| Abbott said only 81% of Indigenous year 9 students in metropolitan areas met the national minimum standards for reading last year, but that figure was just 31% in very remote areas. | Abbott said only 81% of Indigenous year 9 students in metropolitan areas met the national minimum standards for reading last year, but that figure was just 31% in very remote areas. |
| He said strong education in traditional culture was helped by a good education in English, adding that it “should be possible to be proudly Aboriginal and a full participant in modern Australia”. | He said strong education in traditional culture was helped by a good education in English, adding that it “should be possible to be proudly Aboriginal and a full participant in modern Australia”. |
| “That doesn’t just mean access to a good education in cities, towns and remote settlements – it means actually going to school,” Abbott said. | “That doesn’t just mean access to a good education in cities, towns and remote settlements – it means actually going to school,” Abbott said. |
| “So I propose to add a new target to our existing closing the gap targets: namely to end the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous school attendance within five years. I hope I am here long enough to be judged on its achievement. | “So I propose to add a new target to our existing closing the gap targets: namely to end the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous school attendance within five years. I hope I am here long enough to be judged on its achievement. |
| “We will know that this gap has been all but closed when schools achieve 90%-plus attendance regardless of their percentage of Aboriginal students.” | “We will know that this gap has been all but closed when schools achieve 90%-plus attendance regardless of their percentage of Aboriginal students.” |
| Abbott said it was the duty of every teacher and every education department to try to ensure that every child attended school, unless there was a very good reason not. | Abbott said it was the duty of every teacher and every education department to try to ensure that every child attended school, unless there was a very good reason not. |
| “One of the worst forms of neglect is failing to give children the education they need for a decent life,” he said. | “One of the worst forms of neglect is failing to give children the education they need for a decent life,” he said. |
| “That’s why every state and territory has anti-truancy laws. That’s why the former government, to its credit, tried to quarantine welfare payments for families whose children weren’t at school. | “That’s why every state and territory has anti-truancy laws. That’s why the former government, to its credit, tried to quarantine welfare payments for families whose children weren’t at school. |
| “That’s why, at my first Coag meeting, every state and territory agreed with the commonwealth on the need to publish attendance data from every school. | “That’s why, at my first Coag meeting, every state and territory agreed with the commonwealth on the need to publish attendance data from every school. |
| “And that’s why, at 40 remote schools, the commonwealth is already funding new anti-truancy measures that, on day one of the 2014 school year, in some communities, seem to have boosted attendance from under 60% to over 90%.” | “And that’s why, at 40 remote schools, the commonwealth is already funding new anti-truancy measures that, on day one of the 2014 school year, in some communities, seem to have boosted attendance from under 60% to over 90%.” |
| Abbott said Indigenous school attendance data would be part of the next closing the gap report and all subsequent reports under his government. They would also include data on work program participation and on communities without a police presence. | Abbott said Indigenous school attendance data would be part of the next closing the gap report and all subsequent reports under his government. They would also include data on work program participation and on communities without a police presence. |
| The prime minister used his speech to reflect on his personal journey on Indigenous affairs, describing Paul Keating’s Redfern speech in 1992 as a “watershed moment”. | |
| He said he had been an opposition staffer at the time and his job was to disagree with everything Keating said, but he could not disagree with its central point “that our failures towards Australia’s first people were a stain on our soul”. | |
| Abbott said Indigenous policy had became a “personal mission” for him. He said there was “no country on Earth where people are made more welcome”, yet for two centuries Australians had “collectively failed to show to Aboriginal people the personal generosity and warmth of welcome that we have habitually extended to the stranger in our midst”. | |
| He said his government was no less serious about Indigenous politics than it was about “stopping the boats, fixing the budget and building the roads of the 21st century”. | |
| The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, stressed Labor’s continued support for the closing the gap initiative and welcomed Abbott’s proposed new school attendance target. | The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, stressed Labor’s continued support for the closing the gap initiative and welcomed Abbott’s proposed new school attendance target. |
| But he warned that there was “a fine line between good intentions and ‘we know better’ paternalism”. | |
| Shorten said while he wanted Indigenous policy discussion to be characterised by consensus and bipartisanship, he worried that the government’s education funding changes put additional support for schools with Indigenous students at risk. | |
| “We worry when talk of ‘consolidation’ leads to a reduction in scholarships for Aboriginal students,” he said. | |
| “We worry that remote schools are starting this year with fewer teachers than last year. We worry when funding for successful job, housing and health initiatives vanishes in the name of ‘cutting red tape’.” | |
| Shorten said the former Labor government’s leadership on alcohol management plans had resulted in a six-year decline in booze consumption in the Northern Territory, but it was a tragedy that “the rivers of grog” were flowing again. | |
| “In the last year, alcohol-related violence is up 15%, domestic violence is up 21%,” he said, calling on the government to approve 23 new alcohol management plans awaiting approval. | |
| Shorten said the country had made great progress in the past six years and moved past the false choice between “practical” and “symbolic” reconciliation. | |
| The opposition leader said he was pleased to hear the prime minister commit to bringing a form of words for constitutional recognition of Indigenous people to the parliament this year, arguing the reform depended on “a sense of urgency and momentum”. | |
| “If we prevaricate, or dither, we risk missing a unifying moment,” Shorten said. | |
| “We risk abandoning the field to those who prefer to use Australian history as an instrument of division; people whose appetite for conflict divides our nation; those who would prefer to maintain the shameful ‘great Australian silence’ than face the truth, learn from it, and grow.” |