Education
-
DEAN ASHENDEN. State aide, the ALP and the ‘needs policy’.
When Labor decided to support public funding of non-government schools fifty years ago, it created a legacy that is still misunderstood. Continue reading »
-
LINDA SIMON. The national scandal in Vocational Education and Training (VET).
Redesigning VET FEE-HELP In late April the Federal Government released a discussion paper entitled ‘Redesigning VET FEE-HELP’. It had become apparent that continuing legislative changes put through the Federal Parliament were not enough to prevent the behaviour of some private training providers. The most recent of those changes was in January this year when the Continue reading »
-
LYNDSAY CONNORS. The schools funding question that Turnbull needs to answer
‘The quality of a student’s education should not be limited by where the student lives, the income of his or her family, the school he or she attends or his or her personal circumstances’. This is the statement of moral purpose set out in the preamble to current legislation, the Australian Education Act 2013, Continue reading »
-
LINDA SIMON. Do the Parties really care about vocational education and training (VET) these elections?
National TAFE Day was celebrated on June 16 this year, a little over two weeks before the Federal elections. Both Labor and the Greens took the opportunity to restate their support for TAFE and launch further policies. However the Government’s media release from Senator Scott Ryan, Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, focused only Continue reading »
-
FAZAL RIZVI. Migration Ain’t What It Used to Be
That Asian-Australians are making a substantial contribution to the Australian economy is a fact that can no longer be contested. This contribution is of enormous significance, especially as Australia seeks to become integrated into the regional economy. The issues of how this contribution might be mapped and enhanced are examined in a report released by Continue reading »
-
WARWICK ELSCHE. Shorten should play to Labor’s strength.
For more than 60 years, since opinion polling became important in shaping election strategies, there has been for the Australian Labor Party one awkward but stubborn consistency. Rightly or wrongly the Australian Electorate, with very isolated and brief exceptions, has always preferred and trusted the non Labor side of politics, the Liberal-National Party Coalition, Continue reading »
-
CHRIS BONNOR and BERNIE SHEPHERD. Will we really get Gonski?
So the election is in full swing and the word ‘Gonski’ is once more up there in lights. You have to feel a bit sorry for David Gonski. His achievements are indeed stellar but his name has become a proxy for just one: a major review into schools. Actually it has become a proxy for Continue reading »
-
Is this the vocational education and training system we need?
Hearing or reading about vocational education and training (VET) today, we expect it to be another story of rorts and wrongdoings. And it is an horrific story, a story of for-profit private providers accessing public funding and not delivering the education and training students expected. It is a story of a number of private providers Continue reading »
-
DAVID STEPHENS. Honest History’s Alternative Guide to the Australian War Memorial
Questioning the received view: Honest History’s Alternative Guide to the Australian War Memorial Which word should we use to describe what happened on 25 April 1915: ‘landing’ or ‘invasion’? Why do we refer to dead soldiers as ‘the fallen’? Does the ‘freedom’ we are said to have fought for in our many wars include the Continue reading »
-
MICHELE KOSASIH. Seven years on and still itching for change on the negative impacts of alcohol.
2016 marks seven years for the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education’s (FARE) Annual Alcohol Poll (conducted by Galaxy Research), and we continue to see Australia’s concern about the negative impacts alcohol has on the community. Continue reading »
-
Chris Bonnor. My Gonski is bigger than yours
We should have known it would come to this. For years both Labor and the Coalition have ducked and weaved while the education sector battled to ensure that at least the Gonski funding hope was kept alive. Labor recast Gonski’s recommendations into a form that the Gonski panel would hardly recognize, and the Coalition was Continue reading »
-
Michael Keating. The 2016-17 Budget. Part 1 of 2.
The Turnbull Government’s Budget for 2016-17 reflects an essentially ‘steady as she goes’ fiscal strategy. Not that that is a fault – indeed it can be a virtue, especially when matched against the give-aways in other previous pre-election budgets. Furthermore, we could not have realistically expected any other sort of Budget, given the extent to Continue reading »
-
Evan Williams. The seven sacred cows of Australian politics
We are indebted to the Hindu religion for that useful term sacred cow. As every schoolboy knows, Hindus venerate the cow and forbid its slaughter or abuse. Our political landscape abounds in sacred cows – institutions or practices that are considered beyond criticism, immune to scrutiny and supported by politicians of all parties. Some sacred Continue reading »
-
David Stephens. Invading our smugness: thoughts on a diversity toolkit
Wednesday, 30 March, must have been a slow news day at the Daily Telegraph. It is difficult to find any other reasonable explanation for the fuss the Telegraph made about the ‘diversity toolkit’ it discovered on the website of the University of New South Wales. What followed, however, spoke volumes about how careless some in Continue reading »
-
John Menadue. The fake discussion about state taxes.
Malcolm Turnbull’s ruse is obvious. He wants us to forget all about deficits and debt and the need for budget repair. To avoid these issues, he now tells us that if we want improved health and education services, we cannot have them because the states have refused his offer on state taxes and he will Continue reading »
-
Chris Bonnor. Malcolm abandons the middle in schooling
Two plus years of conservative government has given oxygen to a number of strange solutions to ill-defined problems. Malcolm Turnbull’s proposal to have the States alone fund government schools, leaving the Commonwealth to look after private schools, is the latest. As a serious suggestion it has been widely condemned, but it would be premature to Continue reading »
-
Michael Keating. The Turnbull Proposal for State Income Taxes
Prime Minister Turnbull says his proposal for the States to levy their own income tax ‘is the most fundamental reform to the Federation in generations’. Well maybe. It certainly would be a significant change, but reform? Furthermore, even if this proposal were ever implemented, it is hardly new. For example, the Fraser Government actually legislated Continue reading »
-
Ian McAuley. Labor’s policies.
Amid all the political chatter about tensions between Turnbull and Morrison, a possible early election, and the laundering of donations to the Liberal Party, Labor has released a substantial policy document –Growing together: Labor’s agenda for tackling inequality. With a gathering of Labor luminaries – Jenny Macklin (who has main carriage of the policy), Bill Continue reading »
-
John Menadue. State income taxes – another political diversion?
Malcolm Turnbull’s suggestion of states entering the income tax field may please ‘state rightists’ in the Liberal party, but it will damage our national aspirations and our national society and economy. In the repost below, Michael Keating, almost two years ago emphasised the importance of the commonwealth government’s domination of income taxes since 1942. This Continue reading »
-
Chris Bonnor and Bernie Shepherd (researchers). School Myths Busted.
What My School really says about our schools. (Text of press release of 28 March 2016) In the wake of the latest version of My School two researchers have published a startling account of what the numbers behind the website actually show. Former school principals Chris Bonnor and Bernie Shepherd have revealed new findings which challenge Continue reading »
-
John Menadue. Making the Federation work better.
The Abbott Government decided that over the next decade commencing in 2017 the Commonwealth Government would reduce grants to the states for education and health by $80 b. This is likely to produce a major and concerted campaign by the states to protect their hospitals and schools. It does provide an opportunity for more effective Continue reading »
-
Jonathan Page. The Inspiration of Vietnam
Postcard from Hanoi: I have been an oncologist for some 35 years, treating adults with advanced cancer. Despite a far greater understanding of the disease, with the discovery of quite remarkable “targeted” therapies, most patients still die of this disease. Many are not suitable for these treatments, many don’t respond or respond poorly and briefly, Continue reading »
-
John Menadue. Postcards from Hanoi.
I will be in Hanoi from February 17-26, attending a Hoc Mai Foundation workshop on learning from each other about health issues in Vietnam and Australia, and assisting in the learning of English in the health field. Hoc Mai means ‘forever learning’. The foundation was established in the late 1990s. University of Sydney was a Continue reading »
-
Reversing the Flight to Private Schools Depends on Reforming Australia’s Incoherent and Unfair Funding System
New school enrolment data show that the long-term shift of students to private schools has stopped in recent years. But, whether it will be sustained is uncertain given school funding trends that massively favour private schools. Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics this month show no change in the share of enrolments between Continue reading »
-
Chris Bonnor. Labor goes back to the Gonski future.
The ALP’s commitment to funding Gonski for the full six years has created interest and even excitement, being welcomed by the three main school sectors, but panned by the Coalition. So why do I just feel that we’ve been here before? It could be because everyone welcomed Gonski’s findings and recommendations in 2012, but what Continue reading »
-
Chris Bonnor . Unhappy New Year, struggling schools and parents!
Prime ministers come and go but the timing of nasty announcements doesn’t change. And so it was with the dumping of Gonski funding beyond 2017, announced in the traditional period of national lethargy between Christmas and New Year. It came despite earlier rumours which suggested Turnbull would pull a rabbit out of the hat Continue reading »
-
John Menadue. Our innovation-averse business culture
Malcolm Turnbull’s Innovation statement sounded new, but was it? So much of what he said used to be called industry policy-technology parks, offsets, defense technology, support for inventors, and quality assurance. But Malcolm Turnbull dwelt particularly on the need for cultural change in business. I think that was new. He said that Australian businesses should Continue reading »
-
Paul Collins. Three wise people.
In the last eighteen months Australian Catholicism has lost three of its great leaders, people who genuinely contributed not only to the church, but also to our social and cultural life. They were Professor Max Charlesworth who died on 2 June 2014, Sister Veronica Brady who died on 20 August 2015, and Father Frank Martin Continue reading »
-
John Menadue. Australia’s Comparative Advantage and Policy Reform
In May and June of this year, Michael Keating and I edited a policy series ‘Fairness, Opportunity and Security’. This policy series has now been published in book form. We were and remain concerned about the policy vacuum in Australia. We are anxious that the debate on policy reform continue. An important contribution to this Continue reading »
-
John Menadue. Good schools, good teachers, good students and Gonski.
On November 15, 2015, The Sun Herald carried a very encouraging story about St John’s Park High School in Sydney, is principal Sue French and staff, and most importantly – its students. Quoting Ms French, the report said At .. St Johns Park High School, more than 90% of students come from a non English Continue reading »