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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-06-13 Daily Xml
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Aboriginal Education Strategy

The Hon. J.S. LEE (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:54): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs about Aboriginal children.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: After extensive consultation, in 2018 the South Australian Liberal government developed the Aboriginal Education Strategy in order to support Aboriginal students in reaching their full potential. The strategy has the following key objectives:

1. To increase opportunities for children and young people across South Australia to engage in Aboriginal languages;

2. To create learning environments that respond to students' cultural needs; and

3. To develop detailed individual learning plans for Aboriginal learners at South Australian schools.

My questions to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs are:

1. What direct advocacy work has the minister engaged in with the education minister to ensure that the strategy will be fully implemented?

2. Does the minister know how many Aboriginal children have benefitted from the Aboriginal Education Strategy?

3. How many detailed learning plans for Aboriginal learners were developed at South Australian schools?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:55): I thank the honourable member for her question. In relation to a Liberal Party policy, I'm not responsible for Liberal Party policies, but I do note that in the area of Aboriginal affairs many policies were brought together and just restated what departments were doing in any event as part of the work that they do. I'm not sure if this was an extension of that, in terms of the policy the honourable member is referring to.

One thing I can talk about in Aboriginal education that I have had extensive representations from the Aboriginal community and discussions with my colleague about is in relation to an exceptionally important institution of Aboriginal education, and that is Tauondi college in this state.

Tauondi turns 50 years old this year and for generations has been providing excellent educational services to Aboriginal people in this state. It was something that the former Liberal government completely and utterly cut block funding from—an attempt to entirely defund Tauondi college and have Tauondi college work solely on a fee-for-service basis, which was an exceptionally difficult thing for an institution that might be one of only two or three of its type in the whole of this country. That was something when we were in opposition that we were opposed to.

We have done work since we have been in government for a better way to fund Tauondi. I know that the Minister for Education has provided further block funding for Tauondi, and more is being worked on in that area, so I can say that the contrast between this government and the former government in terms of areas of Aboriginal education couldn't be more stark.

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