EDUCATION—NON-GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS

Senator Mason, pursuant to notice of motion not objected to as a formal motion, moved general business notice of motion no. 316—That the Senate—

 (a) acknowledges the importance of the role that non-government schools play in reflecting the diversity of Australian society and serving a broad range of students, including those from a variety of religions, social backgrounds, regions and socio-economic circumstances;

 (b) supports the continuation of a funding model into the future that distributes funds according to socio-economic need and which recognises that every non-government school student is entitled to a basic level of government funding;

 (c) calls on the Government to continue to support parents in their right to choose a school which they believe best reflects their values and beliefs, by not penalising parents who wish to make private contributions towards their child's education, nor discouraging schools in their efforts to fundraise or encourage private investment;

 (d) notes the many submissions made to the Review of Funding for Schooling panel by non-government sector authorities requesting that changes to school funding arrangements not leave schools or students worse off in real terms;

 (e) acknowledges that any reduction in government funding for non-government schools would need to be addressed by increasing the level of private income required to be raised by the school community, such as school fees, or through a reduction in the quality of the educational provision in affected schools; and

 (f) calls on the Government to make a clear commitment to the continuation of current funding levels to all non-government schools, plus indexation, and for this to be the basic starting point of any new funding model resulting from the review of funding for schooling process.

Question put.

The Senate divided—

Question negatived.