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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-09-24 Daily Xml
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ABORIGINAL CHILDREN, EDUCATION

The Hon. S.G. WADE (15:19): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation a question relating to the education levels of Aboriginal children.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The South Australian Strategic Plan identified a target to 'Increase yearly the proportion of Aboriginal children reading at age appropriate levels at the end of Year 1.' The Audit Committee on the State Strategic Plan notes that the target merely refers to an increase, not a rate of increase, not a target year. Between the period of 2007 and 2011, the Audit Committee reports that figures provided by the state government show an increase of merely half a per cent per year. The statewide reading level at the end of year 1 at the same point of time was 70.7, whereas for Aboriginal children it was 31.9. If the statewide reading age remains stagnant, at this rate of increase it would take almost 74 years for Aboriginal year 1 children to reach reading rates comparable with the statewide level.

The results suggest that the government's state strategic objective is that we actually maintain intergenerational disadvantage for Indigenous South Australians. My question to the minister is: given the lack of a rate of increase or a target year, is the government indeed planning for long-term intergenerational disadvantage in the education of Aboriginal children?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:20): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. This government believes that education and training are fundamental to reducing Aboriginal disadvantage and enabling greater self-governance, determination and responsibility into the future. That is why we are focused on literacy and numeracy, Aboriginal education and working with communities to lift school attendance.

Most recently this government doubled retention rates from years 8 to 12 for Aboriginal students in government schools from 33.1 per cent in 2002 to 66.9 per cent in 2011. This government believes that Aboriginal families and communities should have involvement in schools and decision-making processes and recognises that employing more Aboriginal teachers and education workers and providing opportunities for them to rise into leadership roles will create better outcomes for Aboriginal students. We are focused on encouraging greater participation by Aboriginal children in preschool and other early childhood development activities. It is vital that Aboriginal children are receiving at least the same education opportunities as those of other children.

The government continues to support the policy that provides for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to attend preschool for up to four sessions per week from three years of age. The number of Aboriginal children enrolled in SA preschools, I am advised, has continued to increase from 994 in 2003 to 1,275 in 2011. For the very first time, all Aboriginal children in the year before full-time school who are living in remote communities will have access to an early childhood education program. The South Australian government is using three key strategies to ensure that children have access to preschool: the delivery of 15 hours of preschool in existing preschool services; expanding on the number of preschool places available in partnership with non-government child care and preschools; and expansion of the provision of preschool education has been progressed with all government funded preschools being provided with funding to deliver 15 hours of preschool per week.

The South Australian government is establishing 38 children's centres for early childhood development and parenting across the state. These centres are developed in accordance with local community needs and provide easy access for families to family support programs, child care and education, and health services for children from birth to eight years. They support close collaboration with other agencies and regional office staff. I am advised that four Aboriginal children and family centres are being developed in South Australia at Ceduna, Whyalla, Christies Beach/Noarlunga and Pukatja on the APY lands as part of the Indigenous Early Childhood National Partnership.

The PRESIDENT: Supplementary, Mr Wade.

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