Page 116 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 13 February 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The situation is only going to get worse when next term 51 schools will lose the dedicated bus routes that deliver them to school. When those are axed even more students will be faced with crossing busy roads. In the case of schools around Dickson, it will be a major traffic thoroughfare like Northbourne Avenue and Antill Street that will bear the brunt.
This government has identified road safety around schools as a major responsibility and it is one that has to be shared by the education and transport directorates. Between the two you would hope that one of them would have got it right, but it is yet another half-baked, half-delivered policy that needs full commitment.
There are 77,000 students in this territory and they and their families have every right to expect safe travel to and from school and safety whilst at school. The government needs to lift its game. I commend my motion to the Assembly.
MS BERRY (Ginninderra—Deputy Chief Minister, Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development, Minister for Housing and Suburban Development, Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Sport and Recreation and Minister for Women) (10.52): I move the amendment that has been circulated:
Omit all words after “That this Assembly”, substitute:
“(1) notes that:
(a) the safety of children travelling to and from school is of paramount importance;
(b) the ACT Government implements a number of programs to make travel to and from school safer, including Active Streets for Schools and School Crossing Supervisors;
(c) the School Crossing Supervisors program was designed to assist children to cross roads safely, improve health and wellbeing through increased active travel, improve traffic flow and reduce congestion;
(d) in the establishment of the School Crossing Supervisors program, 20 schools have been provided with School Crossing Supervisors in 2018, and an additional five were provided from the start of this year;
(e) the School Crossing Supervisor program has received very positive feedback from schools, parents and the community since it commenced, and a program evaluation is currently underway and expected to be finalised in June 2019;
(f) early results from the evaluation indicate the program is providing demonstrated benefits, with almost 75 percent of respondents to surveys indicating that traffic danger has reduced greatly following the introduction of a supervisor;
(g) Transport Canberra and City Services has a dedicated senior officer to support schools and applies a range of measures, recognising ‘a one size fits all approach’ is unable to meet the specific and sometimes unique needs of our schools; and
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video