Tag Archives: Policy

Federal Government Funding Initiatives 2020 Blog Series #4

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This is the fourth blog on Federal Government Funding Initiatives. See here for a list of other blogs in this series as they are published:

Any support for home educators in Australia is useful. Over a few posts Ed Consult will list a series of Federal Government policy changes that may be of use to home educators if we ask. Ed Consult does not endorse any of these Government initiatives. They are simply a collection of policies for 2020 that home educators could make use of for their families.

Here are the next excerpts from the Australian Government Department for Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development for 2020.

National School Reform Agreement—Commonwealth contribution to national policy initiatives

“The Australian Government will contribute to the costs of implementing national policy initiatives developed with the states and territories to support implementation of the National School Reform Agreement. The initiatives will focus on strategic reform in areas that will have the most impact on student achievement and school improvement, to support every child to realise their full learning potential. By signing up to the Agreement, governments commit to a sustained reform effort that will drive improved student outcomes and excellence in the classroom.

The National School Reform Agreement, developed through the Council of Australian Government’s Education Council, has been informed by recommendations of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools, led by Mr David Gonski AC and the Independent Review into Regional, Rural and Remote Education This measure builds on the 2017-18 measure: Quality Schools—true needs‑based funding for Australia’s schools.”

Not very relevant to home educating parents, but it is good to know about the national education reform.

Response to the Review of the Socio‑Economic Status Score Methodology

“The Australian Government will provide a further $4.5 billion from 2018-19 to 2028-29 ($1.2 billion over four years from 2018‑19) to implement recommendations of the National School Resourcing Board’s Review of the socio‑economic status score methodology. This will help ensure funding to non‑government schools flows to students who need it most. The measure includes:

  • $3.2 billion to introduce, from the 2020 school year, a fairer and more equitable method for calculating Australian Government funding for non‑government schools, which uses parental income to measure a school community’s capacity to contribute to their school’s costs;
  • $170.8 million over two years from 2018‑19 to provide funding certainty for non-government schools for the 2019 school year; and
  • $1.2 billion over 10 years from the 2020 school year to establish the Choice and Affordability Fund to address specific challenges in the non‑government school sector, such as supporting schools in drought‑affected areas, schools that need help to improve performance, and to enable parental choice in the schooling system”

As you can read, there is substantial assistance to private schools to help enable parental choice to choose a private school. But no funding for home educated families, especially families struggling to fund the education of children with disabilities.

School Funding – Additional support for students

“The Australian Government will provide targeted additional funding from 2018‑19 over four years to support student achievement and school improvement, particularly in disadvantaged communities including those in remote and regional locations. This funding includes:

  • $9.8 million over four years for non‑government distance education schools, which provide an alternative for families where mainstream schooling is not appropriate for reasons including students’ geographic isolation, health issues or learning difficulties; and
  • $2.8 million over two years to extend the Flexible Literacy for Remote Primary Schools Program pilot into the 2019 school year, to help improve literacy outcomes by trialling flexible teaching methods.”

It would be a leap forward for home educators to be invited to the independent schools’ funding meetings. However, in the interim, it would be great if remote primary school’s could include flexible enrolments in all states rather than just a few to access specialist literacy and numeracy intensive courses if that is helpful or desirable for home educated students.

Follow this blog to find out about other initiatives that are being rolled out by the Federal Government in 2020. Perhaps it is time to start asking for a piece of the pie?

Ed Consult. Supporting Home Educators Across Australia.

Federal Government Funding Initiatives 2020 Blog Series #1

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Any support for home educators in Australia is useful. Over a few posts Ed Consult will list a series of Federal Government policy changes that may be of use to home educators if we ask. It is also worth noting what is denied to the home educated student compared to their schooled peers.

Here are a few excerpts from the Australian Government Department for Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development for 2020.

Extension of Preschool Funding Arrangements

“The Australian Government has committed a further $453.1 million to provide universal access to 15 hours of quality preschool a week in the year before school, through to the end of 2020, and to undertake the related National Early Childhood Education and Care Collection. This builds on the previous decision to provide Commonwealth support for preschool until the end of 2019 and will benefit around 350,000 children throughout Australia, 100,000 of whom are estimated to live in regional Australia.

The Smith Family School Student Support

An additional $1.4 million will be invested to fund work by The Smith Family to work with state and territory governments and disadvantaged communities on strategies to further improve preschool participation, particularly for families in regional and remote communities, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.”

It is worth testing if the Smith Family initiative will also support home educators in need. https://www.thesmithfamily.com.au/

Arts Education

“The Australian Government will invest $3.3 million in three school-based arts education programs: Music Australia’s Music Count Us In, the Song Room’s Transformational Learning through Creativity, and Bell Shakespeare’s National Education Program. Together, the three programs cover all five elements of the Arts learning area of the Australian Curriculum—music, drama, dance, visual arts and media arts – and will promote student engagement and support students’ social and emotional wellbeing.

This funding will benefit an estimated 786,000 students and teachers in Australian schools and support delivery of these arts programs throughout Australia, with a focus on improving access to arts education for disadvantaged schools in regional and remote areas or low socio-economic areas.”

This is another initiative that may be useful for home education cooperatives. Contact your home education regulatory body in your state or territory to see if your local coop can be part of this scheme. You won’t know unless you ask.

Follow this blog to find out about other initiatives that are being rolled out by the Federal Government. Perhaps it is time to start asking for a piece of the pie.

Ed Consult. Supporting Home Educators Across Australia.