SCHOOL MAINTENANCE

Mr BIGNELL (Mawson) (14:43): My question is directed to the Minister for Education and Children's Services. What is the government doing to support schools with their maintenance requirements?

The Hon. J.D. LOMAX-SMITH (Adelaide—Minister for Education and Children's Services, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:44): I thank the member for Mawson for his question about maintenance and infrastructure, and how much we are investing in school infrastructure. I have say that he knows how important it is for our schools to maintain infrastructure, because what happens within our schools is reflected by the quality of the buildings.

Of course, the Rann government has made investing in infrastructure a key part of its education reform agenda. When this government was elected we inherited a massive maintenance backlog; and, not only was there a maintenance backlog, there was also no strategy or policy and no idea about what to do with our schools except close them—as you may recall. However, this government initially increased the maintenance budget by $2 million a year, introduced a $17 million Better Schools program and a $25 million School Pride program—and that was before last year's initiative with our Education Works strategy, the biggest reform of our school infrastructure in 30 years, which will result in six brand new schools.

In this process we are also asking local communities to look at how there could be some creative realignment of their infrastructure as part of Education Works 2. The Education Works program is supported by local communities. Everyone in this house will surely pay tribute to those school communities who have been working creatively with us in designing the new schools that we are working on across the state.

This massive investment has helped to ease the maintenance backlog, but often the administrative time involved in dealing with maintenance issues can be a distraction for school staff. For that reason, we always look at ways of better servicing school communities and allowing them to get on with the job of teaching. Today I can inform the house that we have set up a one-stop-shop in the department, so that schools and preschools can contact this part of the organisation as one contact point only with their issues about anything to do with infrastructure, whether it is maintenance, building or repairs.

This new asset support centre provides a single point of contact, so that maintenance concerns are logged and tracked and resolved quickly. The key aspect of the centre is on responsive customer service. The centre can provide advice on a range of matters, including asset maintenance policy, guidelines, breakdown repairs, security issues, cleaning issues, and any land or property matters that may arise.

I am told by the department that 50 per cent of inquiries to the centre are resolved within one-hour by providing appropriate advice and support. The centre has also produced fact sheets for principals on a range of matters to do with infrastructure, so that they have quick access to information and support.

These very simple administrative steps to help schools along with our $665 million investment in school infrastructure are evidence of our ongoing commitment to revitalising our school facilities, making it easier for teachers to get on with the job of teaching and integrating with their overall reform agenda, which is being implemented from birth to year 12, as well as into the school sector, as part of our massive investment and our massive focus on education.