Page 4420 - Week 12 - Thursday, 26 October 2017
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
act currently does not allow a child to be registered without first being provisionally registered. Parents may already be home educating another child or may be moving to the ACT from interstate, where they already home educated children, or a parent may be a teacher by profession. Removing provisional registration will improve the process for these parents. Additionally it will reduce a redundant administrative burden borne by parents and the government.
Alongside removing provisional registration, the bill in clause 5 introduces a new requirement that a child registered for home education live, or usually live, in the ACT. This amendment makes clear that the act does not intend to allow home education registration of children who do not live in the ACT. It adds a condition that a child being registered lives, or usually lives, in the ACT and obliges parents of a home educated child to inform the director-general if this stops being the case.
The lack of a requirement that a child live in the ACT means that interstate parents may seek registration for home education in the ACT to avoid educational obligations in their state or territory of residence, because interstate parents perceive the ACT obligations to be less onerous or because another jurisdiction has refused registration of the child.
In making this change the bill intends to provide sufficient flexibility for circumstances where a child who usually lives in the ACT is temporarily living outside the ACT. For example, a home-educated child may accompany their family during travel across Australia for an extended period or a shared custody arrangement may involve a child periodically living with a parent who does not live in the ACT. Examples have been incorporated into both the bill and the explanatory statement with the aim of making clear that the act intends to accommodate a range of circumstances and not be too restrictive.
The bill improves the management of the home education register by expressly providing for the information it contains to be prescribed by regulation—clause 11—and by requiring parents to inform the director-general of changes to information on the register—clause 6. The register allows the government to contact parents about the administration of a child’s home education registration. It needs to contain contemporary and relevant information, which is supported by these amendments.
Home education reporting is improved through clause 10, which clarifies that the requirements for home education reports that parents must already provide to the director-general once every year must comply with any requirement prescribed by regulation. These reports allow the government to monitor the educational progress of home educated children. However, the expected content of a report is not currently set out. The bill addresses this weakness.
Clarified in the bill, through clauses 5, 6, 8, 10 and 11, is reference to matters that may be prescribed by regulation. This change will provide greater certainty for home educators and assist the government to oversee education provided in the home setting.
If the bill is agreed by the Assembly it will commence on 1 January 2019, or sooner by commencement notice. This delayed commencement is provided for two reasons:
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video