Wednesday, 5 February 2025

Education funding

Nina TAYLOR (Albert Park) (16:16): They say that past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour, and this is why I lament. My grievance pertains to Liberal cuts in education, because that is simply what they do. The Napthine–Baillieu governments scrapped support for disadvantaged students, failing to help lift the students who needed it most. What about school capital? They scrapped the Victorian schools plan and failed to plan for the future of Victoria’s education system. School infrastructure funding was cut to a mere $200 million a year, with not one new school opening in 2016 following their failure to invest. They went into the 2018 election with a commitment to build only four new schools. Liberal–Nationals governments let schools crumble and decay while slashing $1 billion from the education budget. Jeff Kennett and the Liberals and Nationals closed 350 schools, including many in regional Victoria.

What about students with disabilities? Only 14 special schools were upgraded under the former government. They cut the student support officers budget from $33 million to $4 million over four years, cutting access to speech pathologists and psychologists. You get the picture. What about student health and wellbeing? While we have been investing in services to provide every student across this state with support, those opposite slashed mental health supports for young people. In their last year of government they cut 29 community-based organisations that delivered mental health services across Victoria. If they return to government, we know what services will be slashed first. It will be critical services like mental health funds for schools. They spent years demonising schools for supporting gender-diverse students, such as through the Safe Schools program. We know their form. Past behaviour predicts future behaviour. Because they have done it already, that is what they would do again.

What about disadvantaged students? We are talking about the cost of living, and that is really what I am getting to when we are talking about education in particular in this discussion. They scrapped Free Fruit Friday – fancy that. They cut $182 million from the School Start bonus, which provided a $300 one-off payment for families with a child moving into prep or year 7 to help cover the costs of starting school. They cut the education maintenance allowance for disadvantaged students. Previously the parents of a disadvantage primary school student would receive a direct payment of $117.50 a year and those of a secondary school student $235 a year. That does not paint a very good picture, and I am grieving deeply for what that would mean for this state.

But fortunately we have a very different approach. We get the cost-of-living challenges of families. We absolutely do, and to prove it you only have to look at our form. For instance, we know that Victorian families have now saved more than $100 million on back-to-school costs. Thanks to the school saving bonus, families have saved $45 million on school uniforms, $30 million on textbooks and $20 million on school activities. That is $100 million back in the pockets of Victorian families.

For my electorate of Albert Park, I am very pleased to say the amount that has been saved across the schools in my electorate – that is, St Kilda Park Primary School, Middle Park Primary School, Port Melbourne Primary School, Port Phillip Specialist School, South Melbourne Primary School, South Melbourne Park Primary School, Victorian College of the Arts, Port Melbourne Secondary, Mac.Robertson Girls’ High and Albert Park College – is $1,165,993. That is money back in the pockets of families in my electorate, and that gives me a lot of comfort. You can see real dollars and cents – that is real savings – for families in my electorate, making it just that bit easier when they are having to manage the cost-of-living pressures of the times that we live in.

There was an also another really positive announcement this week from our Victorian government. The Premier and the Deputy Premier and also Minister for Education Ben Carroll kicked off the next round of the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund. More than 200,000 students across the state will be able to access this support, and also it is a real equaliser. It is all about fairness. It means that no school student is missing out on those really important experiences. I know myself when I went to school camps it was a real way of bonding, but it was also a way of pushing you out of your comfort zone. It was often the first time being away from the family and learning to cope in a really supportive and caring environment. You got to try new things. I remember doing horseriding and other really fun stuff. We want to make sure all kids get that opportunity, and that is exactly what we are doing. We are backing them in and making sure that parents do not have to make that awful choice. We are helping them out.

This fund comes on top of the $400 school saving bonus for around 700,000 students statewide, which can also go towards school activities such as camps or excursions, plus school uniforms and textbooks, which I have already affirmed in the chamber because it is so important. We know what an exceptional and important priority education is per se. It is probably the most important thing getting you ahead in life. It is probably the number one equaliser. That is why we are backing it in.

Victorian families have now saved – and I just want to reiterate this point – over $100 million on back-to-school costs thanks to the school saving bonus. Let me unpack that a little bit further. I have already mentioned to the chamber camps, trips, excursions and incursions, swimming and sporting programs – and we know important it is to learn to swim in our wonderful beaches et cetera because it is an important survival skill, but it is also lots of fun for the summer – and outdoor education programs and graduations. Particularly for people who live in inner areas – not to exclude others, but just to say that for a lot of people living in apartments – these sorts of outdoor programs are really, really important. They mean that kids get to have the experiences that perhaps people in regional areas might have a little bit more access to – a little bit more space. Not necessarily – it depends on their circumstances. But that is the whole point – it is making sure that there is that choice available and that it is fair. There are graduations as well – oh my goodness – school uniforms and textbooks, which we know are really, really, vital.

Looking at the bigger, broader picture for the longer term, we know that there has been a really important announcement recently. It is a real game changer, and I feel it is really important to speak to that as well. The Albanese Labor government and Allan Labor government came to an historic agreement that will put all public schools in Victoria on the path to full and fair funding. Really, this is what it is about – it is about fairness. As part of the agreement the Commonwealth will provide an additional 5 per cent of the schooling resource standard to Victorian public schools. This is absolutely massive, and I was so excited to see this outcome. It was fought for really hard. It was not easy to achieve, but it is really, really important for our state. This will lift the Commonwealth’s contribution from 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the SRS by 2034. This will see around an estimated $2.5 billion in additional Commonwealth funding to Victorian public schools over the next 10 years. This represents the biggest new investment in Victorian public schools by the Australian government ever, and this includes more individualised support for students. I will just unpack what this actually means for Victorian students when we are talking about equity and about delivering for them and backing in their families as well, because we know how keen parents are to see their children do well and get all the support they can in school to get the best possible start in life.

This includes more individualised support for students, mandating evidence-based teaching practices and more mental health support in schools. Victoria will remove the provision put in by the former Liberal government allowing the state to claim 4 per cent of public school funding for indirect school costs such as capital depreciation and replace it with 4 per cent of recurrent funding on eligible expenses while also maintaining a share of the 75 per cent of the SRS for public schools.

But this is not a blank cheque. When we are talking about this huge investment in our state we should qualify that it also needs to be very specifically articulated so that it actually is meaningful for students in our state. The agreement signed will be followed by a Victorian bilateral agreement which will tie funding to reforms already being delivered in Victorian schools that will help students catch up, keep up and finish school. What does that mean? A year 1 phonics check will commence this year and there will be an early years numeracy check to identify students in the early years of school who need additional help, and we know how important the phonics reform is. This is a real game changer, and I am not just saying this. This is really helping to offset particularly those students who are perhaps most disadvantaged, most at risk in our school system, really helping to make sure that they are able to drive best outcomes when we are talking about literacy, which is a fundamental when you are looking at your long-term prospects of being fully functional and getting the most out of life and your vocational experiences.

It continues the nation-leading investment initiatives that support wellbeing for learning, including access to mental health professionals in schools. I think it goes without saying that making sure that students get the support they need when they need it is vital because it is part of that holistic approach to making sure that we help to support well-rounded individuals in our state who are able to cope with the challenges of life. Access to high-quality and evidence-based professional learning – I emphasise ‘evidence-based’ because obviously you have to validate expenditure and investment, but it is investment that is well worth the effort. Initiatives that improve the attraction and retention of teachers – again it goes without saying how important that is. They are absolutely fundamental in every single school of our state; they will not function without them. We know that having well-supported, well-trained teachers who are getting the professional development that they need and deserve is an absolute priority.

In addition, the following national targets will be included: increasing the proportion of students leaving school with a year 12 certificate by 7.5 percentage points nationally by 2030, reducing the proportion of students at a NAPLAN ‘needs additional support’ proficiency level for reading and numeracy nationally by 10 per cent, increasing the proportion of students in the ‘strong and exceeding’ proficiency levels for reading and numeracy by 10 per cent by 2030 and trending upwards for priority equity cohorts in the ‘strong and exceeding’ proficiency levels nationally. Nobody is underestimating or being shy in the face of these challenging targets.

I am a former teacher, albeit for a smaller proportion of my life; I do not wish to claim the credit for those teachers who have had whole careers improving the outcomes of Victorian students. But it certainly buoys my spirit to know that there is this kind of serious investment and ambitious targets to make sure that we really are driving the best outcomes for our state. I am not talking about a statistical reference, because every student matters. It is really about them reaching their individual full potential – that is what it is all about – whatever that may be. I do not wish to be overly definitive in determining what that may be, whether they go on to TAFE, whether they go on to university or whether they go straight out to the workforce when they complete school. It is about having that choice, having that support and also being seen equally irrespective of the pathway that they choose to take.

Increasing the student attendance rate nationally to 91.4 per cent, so referencing the 2019 level, by 2030 – obviously it is critical for students to be in school to get the best out of school. I think it goes without saying that increasing the engagement rate, completed or still enrolled, of initial teacher education students by 10 percentage points to 69.7 per cent by 2035 means more help for students and more help for teachers as well. We know that being a teacher is a huge responsibility, but it is certainly a rewarding one and one that we value. It is an incredibly high priority, and we have absolutely fantastic teachers in this state, I must say. We cannot talk about education without talking up in the best sense and for the right reasons the wonderful teaching professionals that we have, who take the very best care. As part of my job, it is an honour to visit the schools in my electorate and other electorates as well and see the magnificent work that they do and how much care they take for their students day in, day out. We are extraordinarily grateful for that.

I should say that the states and territories that have signed the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement 2025–2034 – Western Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory – will also be offered additional funding from the Commonwealth. But that is an aside. I am focusing here on Victoria because as a state MP that is the priority, looking after this great state of Victoria and ensuring that we are driving the best possible outcomes for Victorian students, teachers and families alike.