Digital Education Strategy

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:06): My question is to the Minister for Education, Training and Skills. Did the minister approve a reduction in the budget for the department's digital strategy including the school laptop program of more than $20 million and, if so, did he inform his cabinet colleagues?

The Hon. B.I. BOYER (Wright—Minister for Education, Training and Skills) (14:07): I thank the member for Morialta for his question and his interest in the digital strategy. I would have to take on notice the detail around the former digital strategy, I think, to which the member for Morialta refers. I do seem to recall as well that the former minister for education, now the Deputy Premier, also had a quite sizeable digital strategy which was announced before the 2018 election which might have been cut by those opposite not long after coming to power. I am pretty sure no-one would like to talk about that here, of course, but I am very happy to use the opportunity that the member for Morialta's question provides me to talk about what we have announced.

We know that cost of living is a concern for lots of South Australians at the moment and education now is not just an issue of paying school fees if you might be in the non-government sector or paying the materials and services charge if you are in the public system. I note we have given $100 off the cost of the materials and services charge again this year, but there are also other costs which add up for families, and a lot of those are around the cost of digital devices which are no longer just an optional extra for people; they are a necessity in terms of the kind of modern education that we seek to give South Australian students in our education system and that can be very expensive.

So what we did announce was a very sizeable contribution toward what by 2026 will be a system where all those students on School Card—and we have also announced, I think, a $5,000 increase in the School Card threshold, up to about $71,000 combined household income. Those families who might earn $71,000 or beneath that figure, and then going up in increments above that depending on how many children they have, don't have to pay the materials and services charge, but by 2026 they will also not have to pay for a laptop. We have started rolling that out to a number of schools. I think it might have been more than 200 that have come onboard straightaway. By 2026, we will have all schools onboard, providing that for families who are eligible for the School Card.

Of course, we know that cost of living is a concern which doesn't just affect those families who might be eligible for the School Card, and I accept that $71,000 combined family or household income is not a great deal of money, so we are also seeking to change the way that the department goes about purchasing devices to improve the purchasing power of the department, so that those families who aren't eligible for a free laptop as part of the School Card program can also access devices through their school, through the department, at a lower rate as well.

We are watching this space very closely. I think this is a very significant investment. It is on top of other support that we already provide in terms of access to the internet as well. We know, again, just as having a laptop computer is no longer an optional extra, having access to the internet at home is a necessity for families as well. Sometimes that can be cost prohibitive, so we are supporting families on the School Card to make sure that they are able to afford the cost of home internet or wi-fi. We are assisting them with that as well, and we will keep looking for further opportunities to make sure that that is the case for education in this state, particularly public education, because at its very core it is about accessibility and affordability for all. I think this digital strategy is a great step along the way.