House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-04-05 Daily Xml

Contents

SCHOOL UNIFORM SUBSIDY

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (15:09): My question is to the Minister for Education. Will the minister explain why families at the new super schools were given a $200 government subsidy per student for uniform costs, yet families of the new Adelaide West Special Education Centre did not receive a subsidy?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (15:09): I thank the honourable member for the question. I do not know the answer to it. I will take it on notice and find out, but it is not a new proposition for uniform subsidies to be provided. I had someone in my office say that new schools over the decades have always had that facility, so it is not an unusual proposition.

I must say that my recollection from attending some of these schools (all of them) is that they have all struck new arrangements for their school uniforms, and, when they have done that, when they have actually settled on the design—which has sometimes been a matter of some controversy between parents, especially with two schools coming together—they have obtained the new uniforms and then the subsidy has followed. I will find out what is happening with Adelaide West.