Private Music Instructors

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (14:57): Another supplementary, sir: given the minister's promise that no student will be disadvantaged by the changed practice next year, will the minister now change the department's policy so that schools can continue offering the same service that families are happily using now?

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Minister for Education and Child Development, Minister for Higher Education and Skills) (14:57): It has something of more weight than a departmental policy, and that is that we have been to the Industrial Relations Commission and there has been a consent determination that this is the practice that we ought to be applying, that we must apply. It is not easily within my remit to do that.

The essence of why the union raised this matter is, I think, because it was concerned that parents were in a position of paying for tuition in a school system where we don't have tuition charges. It is a grey area in the sense that we use our school sites for a variety of community activities, as we should, and a lot of private music instruction is offered on school sites after school hours, which I believe is entirely appropriate.

The question is whether during school hours that ought to be occurring unless there is no alternative. So, the reasonable approach is, you see whether there are alternatives. We have an excellent Instrumental Music Service that cuts across the school system, and some schools obviously are large enough to employ music teachers of their own. For each school, there will be a different solution but, as I say, the goal is absolutely that we not disadvantage any student, and we have endeavoured to be very clear in our messaging about that to the schools.

There was a letter that went out early on to parents at a school in the Hills that suggested that this program was going to stop immediately. That prompted our getting in touch with that school and explaining that that was not necessary, that it was not the way the policy would be unfolding and therefore working with that school. As I say, there are a number of others that we are working with to ensure that we get the right outcome for the students.