2010-10-27
Child Protection Inquiry – Costs of Implementation
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Last Thursday, you committed to implementing the urgent recommendations of the Growing them strong, together report within the six-month time frame. Hopefully, when you made that commitment you had been briefed by Treasury on the cost of that commitment. What will taxpayers spend in the next six months implementing the urgent recommendations of the Growing them strong, together report?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, in response to the Opposition Leader’s question, I point out the government has committed $130m over the next five years to implement the recommendations in this report. That is the absolute commitment. I have also said the Category 1 recommendations will be implemented within six months – and they will be. That is the strength of the decision-making in this government.
We have not worked this out to the last dollar; however, we are absolutely determined to implement these recommendations within the time frames. We are not going to sit on our hands and wait for a bureaucratic process to work through to the nth degree in saying to Territorians we view this issue with the utmost seriousness. As Chief Minister, I am determined to see these reforms implemented. We have allocated $130m over five years to allow the public service, which will be framing the response to these recommendations, to do so in the knowledge they have budget capacity and budget cover.
I also point out to the Leader of the Opposition, as I have said since last week and in a number of media interviews, these issues will not be resolved just within the NTFAC budget in the new Department of Health and Families. The best way to provide for strengthening families and communities, and reducing the number of children at risk of harm and neglect in the Northern Territory is to strengthen communities. That will be done through every agency’s budget: Health; Education; Police; Corrections; courts; and the Infrastructure budget, building houses throughout the Northern Territory, under SIHIP, which won an award last Friday night from the Northern Land Council - 80 new houses …
A member: Not for building houses.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: Well, I did not notice anyone from the opposition at the awards ceremony with representatives of a significant number of Territory businesses, as well as the Northern Land Council, celebrating …
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker, concerning relevance! The nub of the question was …
Ms Lawrie: Trying to chew through the clock, are you?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MILLS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. The nub of the question is whether the $130m was arrived at through a Treasury briefing, Chief Minister? It has not been answered.
Mr HENDERSON: Of course, in the lead-up to the presentation of the report – and I answered this question last week, maybe the Leader of the Opposition was not listening – there was a process worked through in government, based on the submissions put to the inquiry regarding dollars to commit to implementing the reforms ...
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Child Protection Services – Board of Inquiry Update
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for CHILD PROTECTION
Can you please advise the House on updates relating to the child protection Board of Inquiry?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his important question. Our government is committed to improving outcomes for children and families. Within hours of receiving the report, our government acted very quickly. Not only did we commit ourselves to implement the 147 recommendations, and give a response to parliament by early 2011, we have put in an extra $130m over the next five years. That is on top of the $135m a year allocated to the department of children’s services. We moved quickly to bring in more people to address the backlog, not only now, but in the future.
We have established the Child Protection Reform Steering Committee; a committee that will monitor the reform process and the implementation, which will report to me and I will report to parliament. We have put together a list of experts in child health and child protection, and appropriate community representatives so this committee is up and running as soon as possible. It gives me great pleasure today to announce to parliament that we have appointed Professor Graham Vimpani AM as the chair of this steering committee. Professor Vimpani is Professor of Community Child Health and Head of the Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Newcastle. He is also the Clinical Chair of Kaleidoscope: Hunter Children’s Health Network within the Hunter New England Area Health Service; and Medical Director of the Child Protection Team of the John Hunter Children’s Hospital in Newcastle.
Professor Vimpani is senior advisor to the New South Wales government on child protection, and a clinician who has a long-standing interest in promoting child development through early intervention strategies that address the support needs of families with young children.
As we saw last week, a major theme out of the report was about targeting preventative and intervention strategies.
It is important to know that Professor Vimpani was a recipient of the Centenary Medal in 2003 for services to early childhood and, in January 2007, he was awarded an AM.
Child Abuse – Cumulative Harm
Mrs LAMBLEY to CHIEF MINISTER
The child abuse inquiry considered the Northern Territory Child Protection Service’s capacity to provide protection to children from repeated episodes of abuse and neglect, known as cumulative harm. Evidence provided to the inquiry suggests many Territory children who have witnessed repeated incidents of family violence, alcohol and drug usage, and inappropriate sexual behaviours have fallen through the cracks because the current system failed to pick up cumulative harm.
Given the seriousness of this issue, what is your government going to do to address the dangers of cumulative harm? Will you support the Victorian approach, which effectively mandates a child protection investigation if the department receives a subsequent report after two notifications in a 12-month period that have not been investigated, irrespective of classification?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the shadow for her question. The commitment is to implement the recommendations in this report. As I understand it, many of these recommendations are founded on the Victorian system. The Victorian system has been held up as a system to model in the Northern Territory. We will implement the recommendations.
Regarding the cumulative harm issues, one of the key strategic recommendations of the report was to implement a dual pathway system whereby allegations or observations of children being neglected can, in the first instance, be dealt with through an Indigenous non-government organisation or agency on the ground in the communities, rather than having to go through a fully-substantiated process within the department. It is about strengthening communities from the ground up.
I say again to the opposition, this is not just an issue about funding for the Department of Health and Families budget. This is about cumulative harm that is suffered by children right throughout the Northern Territory every night when there are 20 to 30 people sleeping in a house. Children are failing to get a good night’s sleep because of the obvious noise and chaos around a house that is built for six, seven or eight people, and is housing 20 to 30 people. Cumulative harm occurs when children do not go to school every day. Cumulative harm occurs when parents abuse alcohol, drugs, and commit acts of domestic violence. That is why we are cracking down with the toughest alcohol reforms the Territory has ever seen.
In regard to cumulative harm, I ask the shadow, the new member for Araluen, to reflect on the policy she initiated in the Araluen by-election that parents should drink early and drink until they fall down. Imagine the cumulative harm if that was the policy position of the members opposite; that parents should drink early and drink until they fall down …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr CONLAN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The Chief Minister was asked a very precise question without a lengthy preamble. He is now debating the answer. I ask him to provide proof of where that policy was.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, resume your seat. Chief Minister.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, Madam Speaker, I obviously hit a bit of a raw nerve here. This is a serious issue. In terms of the policies around alcohol, we should acknowledge the absolute detriment and cumulative harm to children in the Territory by excessive consumption of alcohol. Having a policy of drink early and drink until you fall down is not going to help the children of the Territory.
Education and School Attendance - Improvements
Ms SCRYMGOUR to CHIEF MINISTER
Can you update the House on the government’s efforts to improve education and school attendance in the Northern Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question. It is an important question which goes to the cumulative harm issues the member for Araluen just spoke about.
Quality education is at the forefront of everything we do in this government. Building better schools, better infrastructure, having better equipped teachers, and better teachers in those schools is at the centre of our Smart Territory strategy. The fact is we can have the best schools in the world, the best teachers in the best schools, with the best equipment and the best infrastructure but, unless children are going to school each and every day, then all of that investment is not going to achieve the return we all want to see. The sad reality in the Northern Territory - and it is a fact - is the gap in education outcomes is a gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. That is not exclusively; there are many Indigenous students who actually achieve really well. We see those students right throughout those systems.
However, predominantly, the further you move out from the urban centres, the worse the attendance gets and the worse the results are. Baseline measures for reading and numeracy for non-Indigenous students from Years 3 to 9 in the Northern Territory are equivalent to national outcomes. There are some encouraging signs. Recent NAPLAN tests demonstrated our students in Year 5 achieved the biggest improvements in average scores in reading and spelling in the country since they were tested in Year 3, two years ago.
We had the very unedifying experience of the Leader of the Opposition, when the first NAPLAN tests came out, brandishing in here a sea of red on a chart that was an absolute insult to every teacher and so many students in the Northern Territory. The vast majority of our students do well.
I also point out it was this government that introduced secondary schooling in the bush. Since 2003, we have had 150 students graduate with Year 12. There will be 40-plus students this year. The great challenge, having got them to Year 12, is to get them a job. That is a debate for another day.
We have a long way to go. Sending children to school, first and foremost, is the responsibility of parents and families. There is nothing more important, apart from bringing your child up healthy and safe, than sending your child to school every day.
The government accepts that we must play a role in both encouraging and enforcing school attendance. That is why today, my colleague, the Education minister, launched our Every Child, Every Day attendance strategy. It acknowledges that unless a family understands and appreciates the importance of sending their child to school, nothing much will change. This strategy does have sticks; it does have carrots. Carrots work better than sticks, but parents have to get their kids to school every single day ...
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Child Protection Services – Recruitment of Staff
Mrs LAMBLEY to CHIEF MINISTER referred to MINISTER for CHILD PROTECTION
I am informed by government officials that the Northern Territory government has put out an SOS to other Australian states requesting help in recruiting desperately needed child protection workers to attack the 1000 cases currently awaiting investigation in the Northern Territory. I am told this plea has largely fallen on deaf ears, with only a handful of experienced child protection workers being made available.
Given the attitude of the states, have you approached the federal government for assistance to recruit child protection workers from other countries? How many of the 1000 or so cases of child abuse and neglect currently awaiting investigation have been investigated since the inquiry reported last Monday?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, obviously the shadow was not in the House yesterday or last week when I advised that, following interviews in the UK, and those currently under way in Canada, we now have 21 new professional child protection workers selected for P1 and P2 team leader and manager positions who have been offered jobs. Many are on their way already. We have been working on this for some time now. I am astounded the shadow did not hear the answer to this question yesterday.
We have also committed to 76 additional frontline workers in the budget this year; 42 new positions in the announcement to the response I made yesterday. In regard to the current backlog, I will hand over to my colleague, the Minister for Child Protection.
Mr VATSKALIS (Child Protection): Madam Speaker, we did not ask for an SOS from other states; we asked for assistance the same way they ask for assistance from us. We have been assured that 10 people from New Zealand and six from Tasmania will come in the next three weeks.
In addition, we seconded nine policemen from the police force to the intake, and a number of policy positions have been transferred into intake temporarily to provide assistance with the backlog. The backlog was not in excess of 1000; there were 100 child protection reports which had not been investigated. We analysed these reports: 35 were Category 1, and they have now all been investigated; 141 were Category 2, and the 10 outstanding in this category will be investigated by the end of this week. We will continue to investigate the others with the new people coming on board.
Child Protection Services – Establishment of Aboriginal Peak Body
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for CHILDREN and FAMILIES
Yesterday, you announced the newly-created position of Child and Family Development Advisor who will work within the NT Council of Social Services in response to the Growing them strong, together report. You said this new position would work to build on collaborative relationships between the department and the community sector, and will assist in identifying roles and resources needed for NGOs, in particular Indigenous organisations. Does this mean you will not be implementing Recommendation 4.4, which states:
- That the Northern Territory government funds the development, establishment and ongoing work of an Aboriginal peak body on child and family safety and wellbeing, and child protection. This peak body would support the process of the development of Aboriginal child and family wellbeing and safety, and child protection agencies.
The position with NTCOSS will be specifically to assist with the expansion of the role of the non-government sector which does not exist in the Northern Territory. If you go anywhere else in Australia, the non-government sector works hand-in-hand with child protection. Here it does not exist – the same way we did not have an Aboriginal protection system. Thirty per cent of the population in the Territory is Indigenous; 85% of all notifications involve Indigenous children, but we did not have this body in the Territory.
AMSANT has met with me; they are committed to helping other Aboriginal organisations to establish that Aboriginal child protection body. NTCOSS is prepared to work with us, which is where we have appointed a person to work together with non-government organisations.
Both recommendations have been adopted and we will work with both the non-government organisations sector and the Aboriginal sector.
Every Child, Every Day – School Attendance Strategy
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for EDUCATION and TRAINING
Today you launched a bold new strategy to boost education results cross the Territory. Can you please inform the House of the key elements of Every Child, Every Day?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question from the member for Nhulunbuy. Attendance at school was something which was recognised front and centre in the child protection inquiry. The likely adverse outcomes for children who do not attend school were recognised by the committee.
The report noted often fewer than 50% of eligible children were in attendance, and non-attendance at school is a strong predictor of adverse outcomes for children, including contact with the child protection and juvenile justice systems.
Currently in our urban schools in major centres, there is an attendance of approximately 90%. In our very remote towns it goes down to around 65%. That is why today I have released our policy, Every Child, Every Day, which is all about getting every kid to school every day. If you look at the NAPLAN results, you see the longer kids are engaged with our education system, the gap closes with time. We have to get those kids into the schools, and on a regular basis.
The policy has rewards and consequences. I have emphasised before we must convince parents of the value of education, and there will be a strong local campaign around that. There is a budget for that also.
One bold thing we are doing is expanding the school year from 40 weeks to 50 weeks. That is in recognition, particularly in our Top End communities, that many of the kids are in town in the Wet Season rather than the Dry Season. That has been part of the EBA we have negotiated with teachers.
We have a beyond school guarantee. We will use every endeavour to find kids who have gone through their schooling, who are adequately qualified, to get a job. We will be working with the shires and with industry on that.
There will be rewards for school attendance, but there will also be penalties and consequences. I have flagged, specifically, the department will work on family responsibility agreements and, failing that, people will be issued with an infringement notice, which is a short, sharp way - rather than going through the courts initially - of giving people the message if they are not complying. We are putting funds against it. It is very important for this government, it is important for the Territory. We want kids to be at school - every kid, every day.
Mosquito Plague
Mr CHANDLER to MINISTER for HEALTH
Given the recent predicted high tides and the unusual early rains, what did you do to ensure your department was adequately resourced to deal with the potentially high risk of a mosquito plague and the known hazards, such as dangerous mosquito-borne diseases? Did you ensure more resources were allocated to control the perfect storm of mossies which have plagued greater Darwin? Has the area of management increased in line with the growth of our city?
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Is the member directing it towards the Health minister or the Environment minister?
Madam SPEAKER: I believe it is the Health minister.
Mr Conlan: Or whoever.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister for Health.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Honourable members!
Mr Henderson: Who is your Health spokesperson?
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr CHANDLER: Will someone take responsibility?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I inform member, they were not recently predicted high tides. The high tides happen twice a year, every year, at regular intervals at this time of the year. Twice a year, every year, at regular intervals we have this mosquito plague. This year, it has been worse because of the rain.
You have asked the right person because, as a previous Environmental Health Officer, I was heavily involved in mosquito control in the Territory and in Western Australia. Yes, the department has adequate resources to do the survey, and the spraying with a helicopter in extensive areas, mainly around the Leanyer swamp, which seems to be the main source of the mosquitoes, because the low-lying area flooded regularly and the water remains for a long period of time.
The problem we have with mosquito control, which I experienced firsthand, is different methods are used. The one we use is the most environmentally-friendly and most acceptable by the public. Last time we tried fogging, there was a significant reaction in people exposed to it because of allergic reactions and asthma attacks. You cannot control it; it flows with the air.
Yes, the department has adequate resources, is adequately funded, and does a tremendous job to control mosquitoes. On the other hand, you cannot control the tides – King Canute tried to; he did not manage it either.
Skills Development
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for EDUCATION and TRAINING
With our economy tipped to grow further in coming years, can you advise the House of work under way to ensure Territorians have the skills to meet industry demands?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, meeting industry demand is a top priority of this government. Underlining that, as the Chief Minister said, if people have meaningful, productive work that is a big plus. It is a big plus against substance abuse and social dysfunction. That is why this government is focused on providing education and training to enable people to get work.
Over four years, we have had an ambitious target of 10 000 apprenticeships or traineeships. In 2009, 2680 people either had apprenticeships or traineeships and, in 2010, the year-to-date figure is 1585 people. We are on track, I believe, to meet our target. We have also tipped another $1m into this particular program, bringing the total spend over the four years of the project to $15m. We have a very good relationship with industry, which is very supportive of these initiatives, and we are working along the lines of targeted pre-employment.
I am also pleased to say that half of the apprentices and trainees are in traditional trades: 22% in construction; 29% in electrical; 21% in automotive; and, 14% in mechanical, fabrication and engineering. There is a very important link between education and training, our economy, and pathways to employment.
As members would be aware, there have been changes to legislation around youth participation, which means, until you are 17, either you have to learn or earn. We have school-based programs in apprenticeships or traineeships. We are focused on providing pathways to employment for our young people.
Proposed Aboriginal Child Commissioner Request by AMSANT
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for CHILDREN and FAMILIES
During the interview on Stateline last week, AMSANT said they were advocating for an Aboriginal Child Commissioner. Will the government be appointing an Aboriginal Child Commissioner to work alongside the Children’s Commissioner, Dr Howard Bath, to monitor and report on the implementation of the recommendations in the Child Protection Inquiry report?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question about children’s services which is very important. I am pleased the member has asked this question because it is in contrast with the opposition members whose members have spent very little time asking questions on child protection. It was only the first day they asked a lot of questions, the second day there were two, and the third day there was one. Yesterday, there were two questions, and today there were three.
You hit the nail on the head, member for Nelson. Yes, we will adopt the recommendation and, yes, we will examine the establishment of an Aboriginal person in the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, dedicated to investigate issues raised by and affecting Aboriginal children in particular. They will work hand-in-hand with the peak body that is established now and the proposed establishment of an Aboriginal child protection system in the Territory.
Alcohol and Other Drugs Services – Reduction in Funding
Mr STYLES to MINISTER for ALCOHOL POLICY
In the 2010-11 financial year, you plan to spend $114 000 less in Alcohol and Other Drugs services than you did during the previous year. Without proper rehabilitation services, your government cannot be serious about reducing the effects of alcohol abuse in the community. Why did you slash the budget for Alcohol and Other Drugs services at the very moment you are talking about increasing the number of people entering alcohol rehabilitation programs?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question from the member opposite. Actually, we have done quite the reverse. Government made a decision in September - announced in September post the May budget - to undertake the most comprehensive alcohol reforms in the Territory’s history, to establish a model that has not been established anywhere in Australia, let alone the world. We boldly announced a new way forward in alcohol reform, which goes to the heart of the problem, tackling the problem drinker rather than tackling the broader community, of which the majority of people are actually doing the right thing. However, there are problem drinkers and there is a cohort.
When the government made the announcement in September, we very clearly said we would fund the roll-out of an ID system Territory-wide. We said we are committed to the $6m investment for funding that roll-out. That was post the May budget so, clearly, the funds are starting to flow now.
Within the existing funding, I have already found approximately $3m. The Commonwealth has announced another couple of million dollars towards funding that roll-out as well. We are working in a partnership with the Commonwealth.
We have also said the mandatory treatment and rehabilitation, and the health interventions required to pack in and around this system will be worth tens of millions of dollars. There is already significant investment in this area. We have already taken rehabilitation and sobering-up shelter beds up to 300. That does not sit in the Alcohol Policy Minister’s budget; that sits in the Department of Health and Families’ Alcohol and Other Drugs budget. We are a policy arm where we actually do the policy integration; we are not the operational arm. You are looking to the wrong budget area to start with, but that is all right, I am happy to give you a brief on that.
In the Alcohol and Other Drugs funding split, there are two layers of funding. One is NT government funding, one is the Commonwealth. We are in active and live negotiations with the Commonwealth about the resources that are occurring in the sector now, and how they best occur going forward to support the new model. The Commonwealth is on board. They are embracing the suggestion we have put forward. We are still in consultation phase; I made that clear during the statement yesterday. We will not finish consultations until mid-November.
Government will then make the final decision so we can write up the legislation through December and January for introduction in the February sittings of parliament; for passage in March, and go live with the new system on 1 July 2011. You would know that if you had read a single fact sheet which has been in the public domain now for over a month. You would know that if you had bothered to go on to the website …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms LAWRIE: Anytime you want to be briefed, mate, bring it on.
Supplementary Question
Alcohol and Other Drugs Services – Reduction in Funding
Alcohol and Other Drugs Services – Reduction in Funding
Mr STYLES to MINISTER for ALCOHOL POLICY
In that case, what is the average cost of providing alcohol rehabilitation services to a person suffering from alcohol addiction?
Madam SPEAKER: That is not really a supplementary question, that is an entirely new question. Minister, if you wish, you may respond.
ANSWER
It depends which way you slice it. I made it very clear, we have an early GP health intervention model that we are largely relying on. That is a very different cost structure to a rehabilitation bed structure which, again, is different to an outstation model such as the Mt Theo model. That falls within the Alcohol and Other Drugs section of the Department of Health and Families. There are different cost lists depending on the ambulatory model, which is the GP health intervention model which AMSANT has come out and supported. As they have said, that is the right model. That is different to institutional models such as FORWAARD, CAAPS, CAAPU, Kalano and the like. There are bed costs built in there. That, again, is different to Mt Theo costs. We have all of those broken down.
Alice Springs Youth Action Plan – Engaging Children in Education
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for CENTRAL AUSTRALIA
Can you outline to the House how the Alice Springs Youth Action Plan is supporting efforts to get children to school and keep them engaged in education?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question. Improving school attendance and combating truancy is a key aim of the Alice Springs Youth Action Plan. Also, the No School, No Service initiative through the youth action plan has been very successful, with over 100 businesses in Alice Springs being involved and signing up to the voluntary scheme. Under the voluntary code of practice, local retailers are able to refuse service to any school-aged child under the age of 15 in a shop without adult supervision during school hours.
As we have heard from the minister for Education today, school truancy is a very important issue we need to deal with. Regarding the issue of youth and their antisocial behaviour, the Every Child, Every Day attendance strategy he launched today, and the No School, No Service code sends a strong message that wagging school is not cool. The No School, No Service code has been so successful it is being adopted in other centres such as Palmerston and Katherine.
Under the Alice Springs Youth Action Plan, we have seen the creation of the Centralian Middle School in Alice Springs. This has also seen an increase in enrolments, better resourcing throughout public schools in Alice Springs, and targeting education programs to students. We now have around 370 students enrolled at CMS. The resources and classrooms being provided are first class. I have visited and talked to teachers in some of the programs such as the Clontarf Football Academy and the Girls at the Centre program. I know the member for Braitling has also been there. We have talked to students and staff about those particular programs and the great work they are doing in addressing school attendance and retaining those kids in the education system.
I urge the member for Araluen, as the member for Braitling and I have, to go to CMS and look at the great facilities this government is investing in for our public education. It is also important the member for Araluen talks to a few people about the youth action plan. I am happy to organise a briefing for her. Some of the things she is saying about the youth action plan are wrong, particularly about the closure of ANZAC Hill High School. It is not closing, it is providing an alternative education program next year, which is aimed at bringing those hard-core, disengaged kids back into the education system - something we talked about this week and last week when discussing the Growing them strong, together report.
Along with our aim to re-engage those hard-core problem kids, there will also be wraparound education services to complement the youth hub. That will be established at the ANZAC Hill campus. Through the youth action plan, this government is committed to Alice Springs and to getting kids to school every day, which is so important to the Northern Territory’s future.
School Attendance Campaign
Mr MILLS to CHIEF MINISTER
Almost three years ago to this very day, on 22 October 2007, you announced a new campaign encouraging parents to send their kids to school every day. Ingeniously, you focused on three very important issues: the need to enrol your children at school; make them attend every day; and to notify the school if your child is not going to attend. In spite of this 2007 strategy, attendance rates at bush schools remain at a disturbingly low 65%. Why did your 2007 school attendance strategy fail to improve attendance? Have lessons learnt from this failure been applied to the latest announcement that gives hope that attendance will improve this time?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for acknowledging school attendance in our remote towns is not good enough. I would be the first to stand here and say, yes, I am very disappointed those attendance rates have not improved. It is not good enough. We have to double and triple our efforts to get kids to school every single day. I am the first to acknowledge the previous strategy which was implemented through the department has not worked. Lessons have been learnt, Leader of the Opposition. What we announced today is much more comprehensive. As my colleague, the Education minister, said, there are consequences for parents or guardians who do not take seriously their responsibility for getting their kids to school every single day.
I acknowledge the previous attempt did not have the success we wanted. I also acknowledge there are a number of remote schools across the Northern Territory which have very good attendance rates and kids are doing well. There are not enough of them, and we need to learn more about why those schools are succeeding and why other schools are failing.
With the Commonwealth government, through the SEAM trials, we are seeing the consequences where parents are threatened with the quarantining of Centrelink payments, that kids are going to school. There is nothing more important.
Once again, I contrast our commitment to improving education in the bush to the opposition’s. It is this government which introduced secondary education into our remote schools. The previous government had a policy of primary schools only: ‘If you want a high school education, well, get yourself off to Kormilda College or St John’s, or Yulara in Alice Springs’. There was no secondary education in the bush under the previous government. We are implementing VET courses in the bush to allow people to progress from Year 12, hopefully, into a trade.
This will not be turned around overnight. The commitment is there, the policy is there, the schools are there, the teachers are there, the funding is there. What we need to do is get communities, and parents in particular, to recognise that sending every kid to school every day is absolutely fundamental.
I pay tribute to the AEU and the teachers who have agreed to extend the school year. That is a very significant contribution of flexibility which will be required from teachers. I compliment the AEU and the teachers in taking this bold step in the recent EBA we have signed.
Alice Springs - Uranium Mining
Mr WOOD to CHIEF MINISTER
The government and the opposition stated before the Araluen by-election that uranium mining would not be supported near Alice Springs. Is the Department of Resources now advising all holders of exploration leases that uranium mining is not supported if some people do not want it, and any mineral lease application will be a waste of time?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nelson for his question. Taking the decision to advise the company and the people of Alice Springs that, if the companies were to proceed to an application to mine …
Ms Purick: Hand on your heart. That is what he said.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: Listen to the answer. If the companies were to move to an application to mine, then the government would not support that application, based on the overwhelming opposition to any uranium mine 20 km south of Alice Springs ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: I believe companies, as well as having to meet the environmental obligations, have to have social acceptance for their project …
Ms Purick: That is all covered in the EIS and you know that.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: As a government, we believed that was the right announcement to make to give the companies certainty; that if they were to move, under a Commonwealth process, to apply for a mining lease, the government would oppose it.
I say to honourable members, hand on heart, this was a very difficult decision to take. I went through enormous hours of anxiety about whether this was the right decision or not. Nobody can question this government’s support of the mining industry and of uranium mining. However, people in Alice Springs spoke loudly, strongly, and passionately about their town, and it is for government to lead.
I contrast that to members opposite, particularly the member for Fong Lim, who came out very strongly in opposition to the announcement the Leader of the Opposition made. The member for Fong Lim only speaks these days when it is to contradict the position of the Leader of the Opposition on any number of issues. He never misses an opportunity to make it clear to his colleagues how he opposes the Leader of the Opposition on every issue, and there is an alternative.
Member for Fong Lim, we know you are the loneliest politician in Australia sitting there on the backbenches - a backbench of one. We know you are busy making friends. You only need five more friends and you will no longer be lonely. This is the issue you will make your pitch on, and you will be ably backed by other members sitting over there who support your position. Five more friends and you are in the top job, you will backflip on the position - it is game on.
Uluru - 25th Anniversary Hand Back to Traditional Owners
Ms WALKER to MINISTER for INDIGENOUS DEVELOPMENT
Yesterday, you attended the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta hand back to the Anangu traditional owners. Can you explain what took place at Uluru yesterday, and what the future holds for the region and the Anangu traditional owners?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question. Yesterday was an incredibly special day for the Anangu people: 25 years of recognition in western law. They know for thousands of years that land has been part of the Anangu people. I was pleased to see so many people from around the country and overseas who joined the Anangu on the day.
It was a day where leaders such as Harry Wilson from the park’s board at Uluru stood in front of his people and the many others gathered there and said this was going to be an important new beginning with the purchase of the resort. The focus of the resort is also about local employment with an interest in tourism training for the region.
One of the important aspects of the day was the speakers who spoke about the history of the place. It was raised on numerous occasions how the Anangu have had to fight to be recognised as the traditional owners of the area. It was a struggle which was recognised across the country and the Northern Territory with Aboriginal groups.
Members here were unable to attend. I will show some photographs from the day, because it was an incredibly special day. As you can see, there were many people in attendance, beginning the day in a cloudy way, with the Rock under the clouds of the Anangu people on the land.
It was also a day where they were able to reflect on a very shameful start for them; where they recognise the then Northern Territory government of the day had fought very strongly and spent thousands of dollars across Australia to say that if the Rock was handed back to the Anangu, it would be taken away.
The speakers yesterday were able to say: ‘Look, the sky has not fallen in. Look, the Rock has not moved’. It was also acknowledged we have a hell of a long way to go; that we need to continue to work on the health and education achievements for those who live in the surrounding areas. That is what our government is about; working with the Anangu people in every aspect, whether it is with local government in Mutitjulu, in tourism employment at the Rock or, of course, the airlines that fly there and the tourists that come to the area.
School-Aged Children - Enrolments
Mr CHANDLER to MINISTER for EDUCATION and TRAINING
Last week, you were ignorant of the damning fact that at least 2000 students of compulsory school age in the Northern Territory are not even enrolled to attend school. This week, you introduced a strategy to improve the Territory’s dismal attendance rates. A policy built on ignorance and with no focus on the human dividend is bound to fail. Will you tell the House how many children of compulsory school age are currently not enrolled to go to school in the Territory and, if not, why not?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question from the member for Brennan. Last week, he quoted from the departmental annual report, which said:
- … educating up to an estimated 2000 students of compulsory school age, who may not have been enrolled in remote NT schools.
This was an estimate of 2000 which was arrived at by the then federal government during the intervention - at best, it is an estimate.
The member for Brennan then went on to extrapolate and manipulate those figures to make various assertions of adding those in to say there was an attendance rate of 50% in our very remote schools. The member hammered me in a media release where I said I was very sceptical about his claims. I had a right to be sceptical.
When I read through his assertions, there were two major flaws in what he put forward to this House. First, he asserted the numbers were all in the government system. In fact, those numbers are spread across both systems - government and non-government schools. Second, he attributed them to very remote schools only, instead of across all sectors - predominantly it would be remote and very remote. His figure of 50% is probably out by a factor of at least 20%.
Indeed, if we want to look at the facts of this matter, I have drawn out ABS statistics from 1993 onwards …
Mr Chandler: Whether it is 40%, mate, or 30%, it is not good enough.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: Here is a graphical representation of those ABS statistics, which I am pleased to table today, which show that, from 2001, there has been a 30% reduction in kids who are not enrolled in our schools, compared to the CLP …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: The member for Brennan can grandstand, he can carry on, and he can try to score political points about attendance and enrolment.
We are a government which acknowledges there is a major problem out there. This is a government which has a strategy and a policy in place. The member for Brennan has none of those things.
It was interesting to see the member for Port Darwin write down the questions for the member for Brennan. He writes them down - so the member for Brennan is actually a mouthpiece. He reminds me a lot of Peter Griffin in Family Guy. Instead of an animator, he has a political puppeteer over there. I am more than happy to debate you any time about attendance, enrolment, and strategies to turn it around, member for Brennan.
Healthcare for Children in Schools
Mr GUNNER to MINISTER for HEALTH
How is this government providing healthcare to children in schools to help them get the most from their school life?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is a very important question about our children. We know very well that good support for children and families in the early years is an important way to help our children grow strong and healthy.
The Healthy Under 5 Kids Program covers key assessments from birth to school age, monitors growth, oral health, ear health, anaemia, as well as assesses risks impacting on the family such as domestic violence, smoking, social isolation, financial stress and housing crises. All these factors can impact on the parents’ ability to provide a nurturing environment for their children. Through early identification of these problems, we are able to put in support to assist the family and child development.
The Department of Health and Families’ nurses provide a screening for all children when they enter school in Transition to monitor growth, hearing and vision, and assess their attributes to enable full participation in school life. Nurses provide support to parents, guardians and teachers where issues are identified and referrals for further assistance are required; for example, the Northern Territory Hearing Services, optometrists, GPs, nutritionists and Aboriginal health organisations. In 2009-10, over 3000 children entering school underwent screening checks.
From school entry, ongoing monitoring is provided through the Healthy School-Age Kids Program in remote communities, another collaborative venture of Health and Education for comprehensive evidence-based surveillance and health promotion.
In urban centres, as children move up the school years, health-promoting school nurses in middle schools work to provide a youth-friendly service. These nurses are involved with the school community to deliver specific health-promoting programs for each school. They help kids learn how to make a healthy lifestyle choice - not smoking, not drinking, keeping healthy, understanding sexual health - establish their own health networks, and understand the implications of potential risk-taking behaviour youth may face from smoking or even possibly taking drugs.
We support our kids from a very early age, at middle school and at senior high school. It is important, from a very early age, kids are supported if we want them to grow to healthy adults.
School Attendance Rates
Mr CHANDLER to MINISTER for EDUCATION and TRAINING
Have you bothered to add up the number of children of school age skipping school on any given day with the number of children of school age not even enrolled? On average, how many kids are not in school on any given day? How many parents do you estimate you will hit with the $200 fine for failing to send their kids to school in 2011? Can you please table a copy of the on-the-spot fine, or are they yet to be approved and printed?
ANSWER
The department publishes annual attendance statistics on its website, including total numbers of kids who are enrolled. On any given one day, well, I suppose I could, it would be a lot of effort. I believe we can get an indication from the attendance figures. I have already mentioned the woeful figure of 65% in our remote schools which climbs to 90% in our urban schools. Indigenous attendance in our urban schools is around 80%. It is all there, member for Brennan; it is on the website.
In essence, I acknowledge what I have acknowledged before: as a government, we do not back away from the fact that we have serious problems in attendance and enrolment. I do not want to make it a political point-scoring issue in regard to numbers. ‘Do you know this, minister; do you know that, minister?’ What I know is it has to be every kid, every day at school for them to receive an education to be able to participate in the economy, to get a job, to give something back to the community. That is what I know, what I want to talk about, and what I am passionate about. I and this government has a policy regarding attendance and enrolment. It is a comprehensive strategy.
If the member for Brennan wants a briefing, I am more than happy to offer him one. I am more than happy to engage him in debate about that. However, let us get away from the member for Port Darwin’s little facts and figures and ‘Do you know, minister’, and whatever. You be yourself, member for Brennan, and then stand up and let us have this debate. You bring out a policy and let us have that debate on policy, instead of stupid little games in Question Time. I am actually very passionate about this, as is the whole government. It is a very important issue. We have to try our darnedest to succeed, member for Brennan; it is incumbent on all of us.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I am wondering if those on-the-spot fines are available for the House to inspect, or are they still to be printed?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, resume your seat. There is no point of order.
School Facilities – Progress of Upgrades
Ms SCRYMGOUR to MINISTER for CONSTRUCTION
The government continues to keep Territorians in jobs through investment in new school facilities. Can you please provide an update to the House on the progress of school upgrades across the Territory?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for her question and her interest in education as a government member. It really is about building the future of the Territory, improving educational outcomes and making the Territory a smart Territory. We are talking about the Building the Education Revolution. I acknowledge staff from the Department of Lands and Planning in the gallery.
When we talk about the Building the Education Revolution, then we talk major policy differences between the CLP and the Henderson Labor government. The members opposite were opposed to the Building the Education Revolution and to $200m-worth of funding going into Territory schools. You can admit you got it wrong, because you know when you go into your electorate, and we know when we travel the Territory, that school communities are celebrating this infrastructure.
On completion, 134 Territory schools will have received new library or classroom facilities, and eight schools will have new science and language centres. To date, 150 construction contracts for school projects have been let, with a total of $161.3m in the Territory. A further 15 projects will be tendered in 2010-11. To date, more than 550 local companies and businesses have benefited from the education stimulus package. That is not a bad tote, and we are very proud of that.
Examples of projects under way include new libraries at Alawa, Driver, Gray and Bees Creek; multipurpose rooms at Willowra, Maningrida, Adelaide River and Alice Springs School of the Air; and new classrooms at Henbury Special School, Durack and Howard Springs Primary School.
Projects already completed include upgrades at Leanyer Primary, Katherine Middle School and Elliott School; science facilities at Dripstone Middle School; new classrooms at Gunbalanya; and new libraries at Alcoota, Acacia Hills and Nyirripi.
A major school project under way is the Territory government-funded $65m construction of Rosebery Middle and Primary Schools. That is a sensational story for the Northern Territory and Palmerston East.
Next year, an additional 93 Building the Education Revolution and Territory government school projects will have been completed, and 10 more BER and Territory government projects will get under way.
Leanyer Recreation Park – Hot Dog Vendor
Mr WOOD to MINISTER for NATURAL RESOURCES, ENVIRONMENT and HERITAGE
On a number of occasions earlier this year, I asked questions on behalf of the hot dog vendor at Leanyer Recreation Park who was concerned about the future of his livelihood because the government took so long to make up its mind about the management of the park. You have just announced that the YMCA has won the tender to manage the park at the cost of $6.93m over three years. What is the future of the hot dog vender?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker I thank the member for Nelson for his question. It is an important question, because this government supports small to medium business operators in the Northern Territory.
As the member for Nelson has correctly pointed out, government has awarded the tender to manage the Leanyer Recreation Park to YMCA. Why not? They have a great record in managing these types of facilities.
This will also bring about a new range of opportunities for people employed by the YMCA in gaining new skills and expertise, as well as bringing forward some exciting new activities at the park.
Ms Purick: What about the hot dog man?
Mr HAMPTON: Regarding the hot dog man - an important question - we informed him some time ago what was happening with the YMCA and the moves to tender that out. He has been aware of it for some time.
The YMCA will take over the park on 15 November. I am advised senior park staff have talked to the hot dog vendor, as well as the YMCA, about going forward. They are aware of his ability to continue to run a business there. I am encouraging the YMCA to continue to talk to the hot dog man, and to provide him with the opportunity. At the end of the day, the decision ultimately lies with the YMCA; however, I am encouraging them to continue to engage him.
School Attendance and Truancy Officers
Mr CHANDLER to MINISTER for EDUCATION and TRAINING
Your government has a range of wellbeing-style officers designed to get kids to school, including five regional attendance officers, 43 Aboriginal Islander education workers, and 30 home liaison officers. For years, your government has banged on about the carrot-and-stick approach to getting kids to school. The Chief Minister admitted here today, as Education minister, he failed with the government’s attendance strategy. Why, then, do you not appoint truancy officers? Can you explain why, under Labor, no one ever is prosecuted for failing to send their kids to school?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, starting at the end of that question first, as I said in parliament last week, over the history of the CLP government and the history of this government, I do not believe there has been a prosecution under the Education Act for someone not sending their kids to school. However, I may stand corrected on that.
In our Every Child, Every Day policy, we look at engagement with communities and parents. It is beyond the simple truancy concept the member for Brennan has. This is all about engaging at a community and parent level; helping and supporting those parents and impressing on them the need and importance for them to send their kids to school.
At the end of the day, there will be a consequence for those parents who do not send their kids to school. There will be an infringement notice of up to $200 which, as I said before, is equivalent to the current fine, as I understand it, under the Education Act. We are mobilising all those resources you talked about, member for Brennan.
You were incorrect when you said five attendance officers - we are putting on an extra five to eight attendance officers. That will bring the total of attendance and participation officers across the Territory to 21. We are investing more in that area. This is mobilisation of the resources of the department around this issue of attendance and enrolment.
A graph I omitted to show before is the trend in enrolments since we came to government in 2001. This is based on ABS statistics. It is not all doom and gloom.
In fact, I happened to be at Millner Primary School for the launch of the policy today …
Mr Giles: Population growth increases that graph.
Dr BURNS: You might be interested in this. It is a very caring and nurturing school. They have an attendance of about 90% overall, and their Indigenous attendance is well into the 80%. They pick the kids up and they have a wellbeing program. These programs are working in many of our schools. The challenge in our remote and very remote schools is absolutely phenomenal, and we owe it to those kids and to the Northern Territory, to do the best we can to get those kids to school – every kid, every day.
Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016