Page 1264 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 3 April 2019
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forward for these ministerial councils to work together. This paper is listed for discussion at the next sports meeting, which is this Friday.
Among the proposals is joint policy work by the interjurisdictional Schools Policy Group and the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority on opportunities to improve the teaching of physical education and physical literacy in the Australian curriculum, in partnership with Sport Australia, including through review of the current sporting schools program.
The ACT government currently provides more than $1.6 million in operational funding per year to the major peak sporting bodies. This funding supports continued competition delivery, promotion and development. Where sports consider that in-school delivery, outside the sporting schools initiative, is worthwhile, this funding may also support the employment of development staff and in-school delivery.
The ACT government also provides further funding of approximately $860,000 per year to sport and recreation organisations for capital works and infrastructure, community sport and recreation development projects, the sports loan subsidy scheme, inclusive program funding, and the minister’s emergency and supplementary program.
While this further funding provides for wider community needs, it also assists schools with infrastructure and facilities to support physical education opportunities. Simply “outsourcing” physical education to sporting providers is not the best way to encourage children into more active lives through out-of-school, club-based participation or building teacher capacity to deliver quality physical education.
A lot of work is being done nationally in furthering the curriculum alignment of sport-based delivery, improving teacher learnings and creating a whole-of-school environment that better embraces physical activity as well as physical literacy. On this note, the ACT government has provided funding to support capacity building within all schools to deliver physical education through the PE pulse program. This has seen a number of workshops delivered in partnership with the Australian Council of Health, Physical Education and Recreation as professional development opportunities to assist curriculum delivery and innovative approaches for student engagement.
I again thank Ms Lee for bringing this important matter to the ACT Assembly today. I look forward to continuing to hear the discussion on this matter. I move the following amendment to Ms Lee’s motion that has been circulated in my name:
Omit paragraphs (1)(g); and (2), substitute:
“(2) further notes:
(a) the Government is, as part of implementing the Future of Education Strategy, developing a workforce plan at both the industry level and for government schools, which will assist in the availability of appropriate staffing cohorts to ensure the necessary skill sets within schools to deliver on the physical education policy;
(b) the Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development, in her capacity as Minister for Sport and Recreation, is leading work to improve the teaching of physical education and physical literacy in the Australian
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