The Hon Julie Bishop MP - Minister for Education, Science and Training, and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues

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Media Release

New reforms to improve school standards

8 May 2007

BUDB 20/07

The Realising Our Potential schooling package announced as part of the 2007-08 Budget today brings a new national focus to improving the quality of education delivered to Australian primary and secondary students.

The Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Julie Bishop MP said that future Australian Government funding for education would be conditional on government and non-government education authorities implementing new reforms to improve school standards.

"The Australian Government is putting measures in place to ensure all Australian schools focus on improving quality, so that parents can be confident their children will receive a high quality education and develop the core skills to be successful in their careers or in further education and training," Minister Bishop said.

"The current school system does not offer clear incentives for quality teaching and improvement. Most schools are unable to employ staff to meet their specific requirements, and are not accountable for school performance."

"To help ensure that students receive a higher quality education, the Australian Government’s future investment in schooling will be tied to reforms to improve teacher quality, and deliver greater accountability to parents," Minister Bishop said.

In addition to the total funding of $843 million over four years provided by the Realising Our Potential schooling package, the Australian Government will, from 2009, require that government and non-government education authorities focus on improving school standards through:

introducing national teacher training and registration standards to improve the skills of new teachers;

introducing core national standards for curricula in key subjects including English, maths, physics, chemistry, biology and Australian history for Years 11 and 12 and in English, maths, science and Australian history for Year 10 to deliver higher and more consistent quality in these subjects;

including external assessment (such as public examinations) as part of Year 12 certificates and common descriptions of levels of achievement;

introducing greater principal autonomy in school management and teacher employment arrangements (including the ability for principals to appoint and dismiss teachers);

introducing performance-based pay for teachers to encourage and reward excellent teaching; and

reporting school and student performance against national benchmarks (including literacy and numeracy results), with school and state comparisons.

To encourage greater choice within the government school sector, the Australian Government will also encourage the establishment of more selective high schools.

The Realising Our Potential schooling package also recognises the higher costs of delivering quality schooling in regional and remote Australia, and will provide $121.1 million over four years from January 2008 to fund a regional and remote loading to non-government schools in addition to current funding. The next schools funding agreement will require state and territory governments to provide an equivalent increase in funding for regional and remote government schools from 2009.

The Australian Government provides significant funding to support government and non-government schools. Over 2005-08, some $33 billion will be provided for schooling across Australia. The Australian Government believes that this investment of taxpayer funds should offer assurance to parents that their children will receive quality education, regardless of which school they attend.

"Future Australian Government funding agreements will be tied to the delivery of a high quality education to students across Australia, regardless of where they live or which school they enrol in," Minister Bishop said.

Media Contacts

Minister Bishop’s Office: Tory Vidler 0414 228 727

Dept of Education, Science & Training: Virginia Cook 0412 971 323

Non-media queries:
1300 363 079

Supporting Information

Why is this important?

Australian Government school education funding for 2009-2012 will be linked to an expanded range of conditions, ensuring nationally consistent, high quality teaching and learning for Australia’s school students.
The Australian Government provides significant funding for Australia’s schools. Some
$33 billion will be delivered over four years to 2008. The Australian Government, on behalf of all tax payers, should be able to require high, consistent standards for this level of support. There is strong support from parents and the public for an improvement in school standards.
The requirements being put in place for Australian Government funding for schools in the four years 2009-2012 articulate what all education authorities should be delivering to students, parents and the Australian community now.

Who will benefit?

Australian school students, their parents, teachers and broader school communities will benefit from the Realising Our Potential schooling package.

Australia’s economy will also benefit as education builds capacity, encourages social participation and can help individuals and groups overcome disadvantage.

What funding is the Government committing to the initiative?

The Realising Our Potential schooling package provides $843 million over four years to improve the quality of education in Australian schools.

In addition, funding for schooling under the next funding agreement will be tied to improving the quality of schooling for all students and their parents.

What have we done in the past?

The Australian Government has delivered $33 billion in funding for school education over the 2005-08 quadrennium. This is a significant contribution to the overall costs of education.

A number of key conditions were imposed through the 2005-08 funding agreement, including national literacy and numeracy benchmark testing and A to E reporting.

When will the initiative conclude?

The next quadrennium funding agreement will conclude in 2012.