EDUCATION AMENDMENT (YOUTH PARTICIPATION) BILL 2009 Second Reading Speech

Northern Territory Second Reading Speeches

EDUCATION AMENDMENT (YOUTH PARTICIPATION) BILL 2009

(This an uncorrected proof of the daily report. It is made available under the condition that it is recognised as such.)

Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.

Members will note this bill to amend the Education act is called is called the Education Amendment (Youth Participation) Bill. The purpose of the bill is to amend the Education act to require young Territorians to complete Year 10 of secondary education and thereafter to continue in full time education, training, employment, or a combination of those until they reach the age of 17 years.

The bill provides for the implementation in the Northern Territory of commitments by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), and by my government. At its meeting in April 2009, COAG agreed to a series of education and training measures. These measures are designed to maximise young people’s engagement with education and training pathways. The proposals assist young Australians to improve their options for the future and their prospects of meeting the challenge of rising youth unemployment. They are also fundamental to broader long term reform to increase the retention and attainment of young Australians in education.

A key initiative in this raft of measures is a national youth participation requirement; it makes participation in education, training or employment compulsory for all young Australians until they reach the age of 17 years.

The agreed commencement date for this new initiative across all Australian states and territories is 1 July 2010. A review of the legislation in other jurisdictions indicates that although there is a common purpose as agreed at COAG, each jurisdiction has adopted its own model to raise the compulsory participation age, and many jurisdictions have appropriate legislation in place to give effect to reforms.

In the Northern Territory it is necessary to amend the Education Act in order to implement this requirement, and the appropriate amendments are set out in the bill currently before you. Public discussion about these proposals has tendered to refer to raising the school leaving age; however, this terminology is misleading because the reforms will only make it compulsory for a young Territorian to complete Year 10 or its equivalent. After that stage and until the age of 17, a young person will be required to participate, but will have a variety of options. They may choose to: continue their schooling; get other approved education training; commence full time work; or participate in a combination of any of these pursuits. After the age of 17 there will be no legislative requirements to continue.

The intended effect of the legislation of members will be to increase the numbers of young Territorians who continue in full time education, training and/or employment and, consequently, reduce the number of unemployed young people.

Although it is difficult at this stage to determine the actual number of young people in the Northern Territory who will be affected by the reforms, ABS statistics indicate that in 2008 the size of the disengaged cohort was in the order of 530 15-year olds, and 690 16-year olds. The reforms will apply equally to all Territorians including: those in the government and non-government sectors; those with special learning needs; those in what is commonly referred to as home schooling; those who are living in remote areas; and those who live in urban areas.

However, the bill contains a transitional provision giving an exemption for young people who have turned 15 before 1 January 2010, the commencement date of the reforms. It is estimated that there are about 250 Territorians who will have turned 15 by that date but have not yet turned 17-years of age. The reason for exempting this particular cohort is that these children and their parents will have made decisions based on the current legislation and should not be subject to amendments which would, in effect, apply to them retrospectively.

Of course, these young people may choose to participate voluntarily in additional education, training or employment, and they are strongly encouraged to do so. These reforms will require all young people, who might otherwise leave school as soon as they turn 15, to remain at school until they complete Year 10. At present, it is estimated that approximately 15% of students leave school in the Northern Territory prior to completing Year 10; some leave to take up a job, but the exact number of those students who will do so in each particular year cannot yet be known.

The act as amended by this bill will:

· continue to allow young Territorians to seek employment after they have completed Year 10, whether or not they have turned 17; and

· continue to allow employers to employ these young people during the youth participation years.

The government is committed to ensuring that during the compulsory participation phase, young people in remote locations and young people with disabilities are able to access suitable education, training or employment opportunities. Approximately 44% of young Territorians live in remote and very remote locations. Remote students with access to a computer and broadband Internet connection are already able to access senior secondary and vocational education subjects and units online.

These subjects are certified for the Northern Territory Certification of Education and Training. Residential components are included in courses that require hands-on laboratory and workshop learning and assessments. The government is also working to quickly establish, or improve, the education hubs in each of our Working Futures towns, which will provide senior secondary education, including vocational education pathways.

Government agencies are also addressing the issue of enhancing the participation opportunities for young people with disabilities. It may be that additional education and training programs will be developed to meet the needs of specific groups and communities. The bill provides for new programs to be approved by the Chief Executive Officer and published by notification in the Gazette.

To support these new participation requirements, the Northern Territory is implementing a range of initiatives aimed at:

· improving literacy and numeracy outcomes through the Smarter Schools National Partnerships;

· improving student attendance;

· providing access to more flexible and meaningful pathways for young people, especially in the senior years of schooling; and

· establishing a Beyond School Guarantee to encourage young people to complete their schooling so they are assured of a post-school pathway into further education, training or employment.

Whilst the Northern Territory’s youth reform will occur across the Territory, it is in remote locations that the most significant reform will need to occur. It is also in remote locations the Northern Territory and Australian governments are focusing significant investment and effort to reshape remote communities, improve service delivery and infrastructure, and drive major improvement in outcomes for Indigenous people.

Education and training is the most important commitment to this government. The Northern Territory government’s draft Territory 2030 strategy places it at the centre of our development as a community. It is also at the centre of our A Working Future policy. According the Commonwealth Grants Commission data 2006, over 40 000 people, or approximately 20% of the Territory population, resides in remote or very remote townships and communities.

Under this initiative, the Territory’s 20 largest remote communities will be transformed, over time, into Territory growth towns which are properly planned and designed; have services, building and facilities like any other country town; and gain benefit from targeted investment in infrastructure.

Territory growth towns will become the economic and service delivery centres for their regions. They have been identified on the basis of a combination of community and regional population, geographic location, existing and planned government services, and potential for development of commercial enterprises. In partnership with other agencies, the Territory’s Department of Education and Training has already commenced developing implementation plans for an initial group of six Territory growth towns. These are Maningrida, Ngukurr, Angurugu and Umbakumba on Groote Eylandt, Gunbalanya and Jabiru, Ntaria and Lajamanu.

A Working Future is closely aligned with the COAG National Indigenous Reform Agreement which aims to improve outcomes for all Indigenous Australians. This agreement recognises that improving outcomes for Indigenous people requires adoption of a multifaceted approach to direct effort across seven key building blocks: Early Childhood; Schooling; Health; Economic Participation; Healthy Homes; Safe Communities; and Governance and Leadership.

Whilst progress across the seven areas is critical to delivering sustainable improvements in participation and productivity, the areas which are most linked to youth attainment and transitions are Schooling and Economic Participation.

The Smarter Schools reforms will expand on existing good educational practice and provide the opportunity to trial innovative ways to address the challenges of delivering education in the Northern Territory. Existing school improvement planning processes will be used to ensure the Smarter Schools reforms complement and align with core business and other Territory and national reforms such as those under the Closing the Gap and youth attainment and transitions national partnerships. These reforms include:

· the Low Socioeconomic Status Schools Communities National Partnership Agreement which identify schools for targeted effort to address the complex and interconnected challenges facing students in disadvantaged communities, including the Territory growth towns;
· the Improving Teacher Quality National Partnership Agreement which is designed to improve teacher and school leader quality to sustain a quality teaching workforce; and
· the Literacy And Numeracy National Partnership Agreement which focuses on achieving sustainable improvements in literacy and numeracy as a key indicator of ability to go and complete Year 12 for all students, including those in Territory growth towns.

The government has also recently launched A Smart Territory – the Education and Training Strategic Plan 2009 - 2012. This plan sets an ambitious program of reform for Territory government schools. The plan is driven by the objective of successful transition of students from their formal years of schooling to further training, employment and/or higher education.

In addition to what I have outlined here today, there are many other Northern Territory and national reform agendas that are working together to shape the service and support we provide young Territorians. These include:

· the Productivity Places Program National Partnership Agreement to increase Indigenous people’s access to employment and training services;
· the Remote Indigenous Public Internet Access National Partnership Agreement to provide Internet access and training in remote Indigenous communities including Territory in growth towns;
· the Indigenous Economic Participation National Partnership Agreement to set Indigenous employment targets for the public sector and outline commitments for increasing Indigenous employment through procurement practices;
· The Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes National Partnership Agreement to fund measures relating to indigenous health, including in remote areas;
· Closing the Gap - Northern Territory to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of Indigenous students; to develop a high performing education workforce in remote schools in the Territory, with an emphasis on developing a local Indigenous education workforce; and to provide funding for additional teacher accommodation in remote locations.
· The Preventative Health National Partnership Agreement to provide funding to address 11 key chronic disease risk factors, for example, smoking, risky drinking, poor diet and obesity;
· The Building Safe Communities Framework to ensure Indigenous children and families are safe and protected from violence and neglect in their home communities, including reducing the amount of alcohol and substance abuse in remote communities;
· The Framework for Addressing Alcohol issues in the Northern Territory to deliver Place-based Alcohol Management Plans for remote areas, including Territory growth towns;
· The Remote Indigenous Housing National Partnership Agreement to provide $1.7bn to the Territory over 10 years for housing in remote areas and normalisation of town camp housing arrangements; and
· the Remote Service Delivery National Partnership agreement to invest $160m over five years to deliver reforms to remote service delivery in 15 of the Territory growth towns.

Madam Speaker, we need the reforms encompassed in this bill because too many young Territorians are leaving school early and not acquiring the skills, the knowledge, and the attitudes that they need to get jobs and to be well prepared for later life. According to the ABS, in 2008, just over 13% of 15- to 19-year-olds in urban areas in the Territory were not participating in full-time education and/or employment. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this percentage is significantly higher in remote and very remote locations. This has increasingly important economic and social implications for the future of the Territory.

We know that technological advances, changing composition and organisation of the labour force, as well as other structural changes in the Australian and Northern Territory economies, will reshape and significantly reduce employment opportunities for unskilled or low skilled young people. The reasons for poor outcomes and early exit from school are multifaceted, but the characteristics of the population in the Territory give some insight into the serious challenges faced by many young Territorians, especially those young people who live in remote and very remote locations.

Education and training have major roles to play in delivering the Territory’s social and economic development and wellbeing. The Territory government believes very strongly in the importance of all young Territorians being given the opportunity to undertake the education and training that well equip them with the skills that will allow them to get jobs and a good income, and contribute fully to economic, cultural and social growth.

Whilst national and international research show a long standing and stubborn relationship between education outcomes and student background, more recent research demonstrates that this is not an inevitable relationship. This research shows that education systems that put in place coherent, consistent and comprehensive reform agendas that prioritise supporting schools to undertake whole school improvement can disrupt this relationship, given time. This evidence also suggests that one of the most significant impediments to achieving this is the beliefs and expectations of teachers, parents, principles and system administrators. To this end, the Territory government is driving a culture of high expectations in Territory schools, and has a range of policies in place that are directed at increasing participation in education and training through strategies ranging from whole school improvement planning, to increasing VET in schools, and school-based apprenticeships and traineeship program to establish a Beyond School Guarantee.

Clearly, the Northern Territory requires a significant and renewed focus on delivering a skilled and capable workforce ready to met future opportunities. Much work has already been done by schools to develop flexible, responsive pathways between school and work or further study. However, more work is needed, and this will be a focus area for many schools in their planning as part of the Smarter Schools National Partnership, and in their work to make youth engagement, attainment and successful transitions key priorities.

Our schools will be required to position themselves as key drivers of change by better integrating vocational educational and training programs into the senior secondary curriculum by encouraging the support of partnerships between schools, business and industry, brokered and supported by effective policy change at corporate level.

The Territory government wants all young Territorians to have the opportunity and support to deliver the knowledge and skills they need to participate effectively in society, to be employed in a globalised economy, and to succeed in life, whatever their background or aspirations. The education and training sectors have key roles to play in skilling young people so they are well placed to meet the future needs of industry for a highly skilled workforce.

Fundamental to this are clear, high quality pathways for students between school, vocational education training, and university. To support this aim the Territory government has set the following systemic targets to be achieved by 2012: a 20% increase in NTCET completions; a 20% completion rate for attaining VET in Schools qualifications; a 3% increase in the proportion of non-Indigenous students at or above national minimum standards in all NAPLAN tests; and a 9% increase in the proportion of Indigenous students at or above national minimum standards in all NAPLAN tests.

The Territory has also committed to achieving its contribution share of COAG targets under the Youth Attainment and Transitions national partnership; that is to lift the Year 12 or equivalent attainment rate by 10% by 2015 and to achieve a 27.9% Indigenous attainment rate by 2020.

To drive the changes necessary to reach these ambitious targets the Territory government, through the Department of Education and Training, is implementing a range of initiatives including:

· the Youth Participation Requirement: from 1 January 2010, young people must participate in schooling until they complete Year 10, following which they will need to participate in full-time education, training or employment until they turn 17.

· a Compact with Young Territorians which provides 15- to 24-year olds with an entitlement to an education or training place for a government subsidised qualification, subject to admission requirements and course availability;

· the new Northern Territory Certificate of Education and Training, which will ensure that all students achieve sound levels of literacy and numeracy, are provided with clear flexible pathways to university, further training or work that both academic and vocational pathways and outcomes are equally valued;

· VET in Schools, expanded access to high quality job aligned programs in all senior secondary schools delivering real qualifications and getting students work ready. This initiative will:

· confirm the role of schools as deliverers of in-house training, providers of VET to other schools, and purchasers of services from external Registered Training Organisations;

· align the focus of new Trade Training Centres to industry and employer need;

· increase the number of school-based apprenticeships and traineeships; and

· facilitate more students to complete Certificate II and/or Certificate III and get an NTCET;

· Centres of Excellence in Maths/Science, Engineering, and Tourism and Hospitality industries within senior secondary colleges to provide opportunities for students to access innovative programs, industry experience and fast-tracked to university entrance;

· Virtual Schooling: improved access to the South Australian Certificate of Education approved academic and VET courses, using digital technologies to facilitate real time quality learning for senior secondary students who do not have these courses available in their home school;

· A Sporting Chance: expanded access to the Clontarf academy programs across more schools and communities for a wider range of students, including young men in the senior years, as well as exploring options to be trialled with young women;

· a Beyond School Guarantee and local Jobs Registers ensuring students a pathway to work, university or further training when they fulfil base requirements, including attendance, participation and behaviour;

· a Regional Focus: realignment of DET resourcing to provide a regional focus on early years, schooling and post-schooling, to ensure the necessary support to drive youth engagement, attainment and successful transitions;

· Personal Learning Plans requiring all Year 10 students to develop a personal learning plan;

· Work-Ready Programs and improved access to and investment in training driven by the skill needs of industry and leading to employment;

· Outside School Hours Access to School Facilities to assist tertiary education and training; and

· Smart Alignment of the effort of DET with other agencies in the Australian government to achieve stronger outcomes for young people.

This bill is a fundamental platform to putting in place many of the strategies and government programs I have outlined. It will frame a new future and new opportunities for the Territory’s youth. There are a number of minor amendments included in this bill to take account of changes in the Interpretation Act, particularly recent amendments to sections 38F and 65 of the Interpretation Act concerning subordinate legislation.

The bill also offers an opportunity to update the references in the Education Act to the department of Education and to the Secretary of the department. Those terms are now a little archaic and the bill proposes they be replaced with current terminology - agency, instead of the current name of the department concerned, and Chief Executive Officer for the officer leading that department. These amendments were of the kind normally attended to in statute law revision legislation; here they are included in the schedule of the bill.

Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members, and table the explanatory statements accompanying the bill.

Debate adjourned.

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