Page 2250 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 4 August 2021
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issue rather than a performance issue. The project has not been finalised, so the results of the analysis have not yet progressed to education ministers. I look forward to updating the Assembly on this in due course.
In relation to the agreed recommendations of the bullying and violence inquiry, I am pleased to advise the Assembly that, by the end of June 2020, this government had already completed half of the 21 “agreed” and “agreed in principle” recommendations. We are continuing to implement the remaining recommendations.
ACT public schools are engaging places dedicated to learning, with more than 50,000 students and nearly 4,000 teachers attending ACT public schools every day. Acts of bullying and violence in our schools are not acceptable and never have been. Since the inquiry, we have continued to work to ensure a safe and inclusive school environment for both students and teachers, and I am pleased to talk further about this now.
The government is committed to making sure that schools are places where students love to learn. As members would know, having students at the centre is a foundation of the future of education strategy, as are strong communities for learning.
The Safe and Supportive Schools policy requires every ACT public school to explicitly teach social skills and positive behaviours in accordance with the Australian curriculum. This is undertaken as one of the seven essential features of the positive behaviour for learning framework. Positive Behaviour for Learning is a framework that schools use to get everyone—students, staff, families and the school community—on the same page to create a safe and supportive learning environment for all students.
The majority of ACT public schools have started implementing Positive Behaviour for Learning, and continued government investment will support the rollout to all remaining public schools. All ACT public schools have access to a school psychologist. In 2016 this government committed to an additional 20 school psychologists by 2020. We have delivered on this commitment and, as of June 2021, schools are supported by more than 80 full-time equivalent psychologists.
ACT public schools also have access to a multidisciplinary model of support, including allied health professionals, to complement the work of psychologists and enhance the supports for students and schools. This government has also committed to hiring an additional 25 youth and social workers in this term of government, building on the investment of the previous term.
I can advise the Assembly that, as part of the public mental health system, after-hours support is available through Access Mental Health for children and young people. This service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Information-sharing and linkages between child and adolescent mental health services and school youth health nurses are also being strengthened.
Regarding incident reporting, through enhanced IT functionality, principals are now able to ensure greater consistency in centralised recording of both positive and negative student incidences. Students and parents are encouraged to raise incidents of
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