APY LANDS, SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (14:53): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation questions about school attendance on the APY lands.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: I refer the minister to an article in The Australian on 14 March entitled 'Lazy parents failing truants', which outlines the dire situation with regard to school attendance on the APY lands. The article details that attendance rates were below 60 per cent at six APY schools and that attendance rates have steadily fallen since 2006. Professor Peter Buckskin, an Indigenous education expert from the University of South Australia, who I have been privileged to meet, has blamed lazy parenting.

The Queensland government has had success with an incentive-based welfare system linked to school attendance, which I asked the minister about more than 12 months ago. My questions are:

1. How does the government plan to stop the falling attendance rates and encourage attendance?

2. Given that the experts believe that the problem lies with the parents, will the government consider a similar incentive-based system to that which has had success in Queensland?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:54): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. I will undertake to take that question to the Minister for Education and Child Development in another place and bring back a response on his behalf.