Student Diversity Advisory Council

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (15:57): I rise today to advise the house of some tremendously important work being done by some terrific young South Australians in the Enabled Youth Disability Network and, in my view, a really exciting announcement of some support that I am very pleased to be providing that group for the establishment of a new Student Diversity Advisory Council. It will assist the education department and me as the Minister for Education in ensuring that the work we do in our South Australian schools, as we seek to provide every student with a world-class education, is meeting the needs and supporting the aspirations, outcomes and pathways for every student.

A bit over a year ago, education ministers from around Australia came together to sign the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration. It is a joint statement of mission and purpose for education systems around the country, including our commonwealth and every state and territory. At its heart, it has two goals. I want to focus briefly on the first goal.

The first goal of the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration is that we will strive for all Australian education systems to provide excellence and equity for our students—excellence and equity. Sometimes, these two projects have been set up in opposition to each other, but they are inextricably linked. We cannot provide excellence in our education system without equity, and we cannot provide equity without excellence.

Excellence means excellence for every single student, and equity means that we are striving for excellence for every single student, but we know that the experience for some students in our education system over many years has not always reflected that ambition. That is why we have this as our central goal. The experience for students with disability, students in care and students with other needs has not always had the same opportunity as other students, Aboriginal students as well.

One of the things which the government has done and which I announced earlier this week is $15 million to support a response to the Graham report into exclusionary discipline. That work, as I said, will be a very important body of work, particularly over the next 12 months as we design the systemic response and then work on the operationalisation by 2023.

This group, which I have raised today, the Student Diversity Advisory Council, will become one of the key stakeholders who we want to provide information about what we are proposing and get their feedback along the way. We know that this is a group of young people who will be able to help us in that, and in so many other responses, as we seek to give students a voice in their future and in reflecting their experiences so that we can better support them and other students with diverse needs and students with disability going forward.

I want to commend particularly the current board members of the Enabled Youth Disability Network: Dominic Brain and Angus Fowler, with whom I met in this building just moments ago; Kathryn Mills, the chair; James Beaumont, the secretary; Brad Bettany; Ruby Nankivell; and indeed a number of other young South Australians who have served in this network since it was established. It was formerly known, and perhaps some members might know it better, as Julia Farr Youth.

Their vision of the organisation is for young people living with a disability to live fulfilling lives and to live them with purpose. Their mission is to influence positive outcomes and provide initiatives to young people living with disability, supporting them to connect, learn and increase their capacity so that they can contribute to society.

Contributions come in many ways, and I think the Student Diversity Advisory Council, which is being formed as we speak and its composition being determined in the coming weeks and months, will play a really important role in that. When I was at school, the student voice was not necessarily something that was really understood, but it is clear that having ownership, or at least the opportunity to participate in ownership of decisions that are made in a student's education, has significant value.

I am particularly interested and concerned that students with a disability have their voice heard and amplified, and this committee will assist in that. We are seeking to deliver a world-class education for all South Australian students. It is our mission. It is our purpose. The Marshall Liberal government since coming to office has invested record amounts in school infrastructure, and we have invested amounts in recurrent funding. That continues, but we also want to make sure that money is well spent.

We see improvements in early learning and we see improvements in pathways, but those improvements have to reach every student. I am really excited by this announcement today, and I think it will help us achieve that very important aspiration.