Page 730 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 5 April 2022
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Mr Hanson: Madam Speaker, a point of order on relevance. My question was: just how many children or teachers have been assaulted at the school since the minister first became aware of the problem six months ago? I appreciate that action has been taken, but the question is: how many assaults have there been?
MADAM SPEAKER: Minister, in time you have left, could you go to the specifics.
MS BERRY: Can I just be clear that Calwell is a good school and these kinds of incidents are rare. The school is being supported. The school community is committed to ensuring that it is a good school for parents and students alike and that teachers and staff have a safe environment. On the incident that occurred, WorkSafe has investigated it and held a number of interviews with staff—
Mr Hanson: Madam Speaker, on relevance, the question was very clearly: how many assaults have there been? The minister said that she is aware that there have been problems at the school since last July, I think. How many assaults have occurred in that period? It is a simple question.
MADAM SPEAKER: If you are able to answer it without compromising anything, Minister.
MS BERRY: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I will take the question on notice as far as the particular reference that Mr Hanson is making.
Calwell High School—safety
MR HANSON: My question is to the minister for education. Minister, WorkSafe has declared one ACT school unsafe, with teachers and students being assaulted and abused on a daily basis, with the union saying:
… it’s unacceptable for things to have gotten to this point where the school is so under-resourced that we’re having these sorts of issues.
The Australian Education Union further stated that “it is the responsibility of the Education Directorate to ensure that its schools are properly resourced”. They continued, “They have failed to uphold this responsibility.” Minister, why is this school so under-resourced, according to the union, that they are having these sorts of issues?
MS BERRY: I understand that the school has had some incidents insofar as needing additional support from the Education Directorate. That support has been provided. A later incident happened a couple of weeks ago which has meant there has been a WorkSafe investigation about some of the other issues at this school. WorkSafe are doing their job, and I greatly appreciate the work that they have done to ensure that this is a safe workplace. We will comply with and work with them closely about the incident that they have investigated.
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