BARTLEY, MR K.

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (14:27): My question is to the Minister for Education and Children's Services. Can the minister please advise the house what qualities Mr Keith Bartley will bring to the position of Chief Executive of the Department of Education and Children's Services?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:27): I was very pleased to make the announcement of the appointment of the new Chief Executive of the Department of Education and Children's Services, the esteemed UK education administrator, Mr Keith Bartley.

Mr Bartley was the outstanding candidate in a strong field of local, interstate and international candidates. When the government commenced its search for a new chief executive, we were trying to consider a number of characteristics that we were seeking in the new chief executive for the ideal candidate. They were, of course, strong administration skills, a reform orientation, powerful communication skills, an educator (somebody with a strong education background), and hopefully also an interest in early childhood development.

We appreciated that these characteristics were unlikely to be found in one candidate. However, we are very pleased to say that Mr Keith Bartley possesses all of these qualities. His whole working life has been focused on education and early childhood services. He has spent 13 years as a high school teacher and school leader, he has run two education and children's services systems in the United Kingdom, he has held a senior position in the UK schools inspectorate called Ofsted, and he is currently chief executive of the General Teaching Council for England, the country's professional standards and registration organisation and the second largest organisation of its sort in the world.

He also has had a long-standing interest in early childhood development, being a trustee of the renowned children's centre called Pen Green. We have had a long-standing collaboration with Pen Green in Britain; it is one of the early examples of the British experience in those integrated children's centres. I have indeed visited it and it is a fantastic example of the sort of reform initiatives we are rolling out across our education system.

His reputation in all of these positions is that of both a very good administrator and a reformer. For instance, he brought together the education and children's services departments in Oxfordshire and he has lived through the 12-year massive period of reform in education in Britain, so he is able to bring many of the lessons that have been learned through that period.

He clearly has a developed and sophisticated view of education and early childhood services, and in this period of real change but also great excitement in education in South Australia, in my view Mr Keith Bartley will provide a substantial contribution to the challenges that we face.

I look forward to him starting his employment in May, but I would also like to acknowledge the excellent work of the Acting Chief Executive, Gino DeGennaro, and express my appreciation for him agreeing to continue in that role until Keith commences.