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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 6 Hansard (24 May) . . Page.. 1685 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

concerning evidence in the committee. I do not want to address that evidence now, because I cannot. Some of it was in camera and some of it is better considered with the rest of the evidence given to our committee.

I understand the concerns that have been expressed here. I do not think anyone is making a political football of this issue, if Mr Stefaniak is concerned about that. Certainly concerns have been raised publicly. That is the role of people working in public positions and the role of the media. It is an issue of concern. I am very concerned about what is happening to indigenous youth and how well they are being supported in the mainstream school system. I have been concerned about this for a couple of years. The inquiry has been a great opportunity to go into detail.

As a member, I have had representations over several years from indigenous people who have expressed grave concerns about how well this government is dealing with the issues. They may well be improving their performance. I notice a few initiatives in the budget. Maybe that is thanks to the publicity. Maybe the government would have done these things anyway. But it is absolutely clear that it is not a good record. It is in fact an appalling record.

The figures on retention rates are misleading. We have no idea of the number of children who drop out of the school system. When you talk to people in the Aboriginal community, you get a strong sense that it is a significant number and of grave concern.

We need to be aware of these issues. I am glad that they are being highlighted. I will continue to work within the committee system to address the issues, and hopefully we will be able to come up with some constructive recommendations for the government to inform future decisions and policy directions in this area of education.

I support the six-month compromise that has just come up from Mr Stefaniak as a requirement for reporting by the government. We will continue to look at this issue in my committee, and I will address it in detail when we have completed our report.

MR BERRY (4.13): I thank members for their support for this motion. The motion seeks to provide better outcomes for the community as a whole and, in particular, to provide better outcomes in indigenous education. I trust that these reports will be a confidence-building exercise as well as an exercise for the department and the minister in keeping the community better informed about progress in matters which have been the subject of public criticism.

This matter is certain to attract the interest of the education committee which is looking at the matter. I once again thank members for their support for this motion.

Amendments agreed to.

Motion, as amended, agreed to.

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