Media release – Jacqui Lambie Network, 30 November 2022

JACQUI LAMBIE NETWORK CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO STOP FUNDING CUTS TO INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

Tasmanian Senators Jacqui Lambie and Tammy Tyrrell call on the Government to reverse a decision that will slash funding to independent schools.

A recent decision from the Department of Education has changed the way some independent schools receive funding. This includes special assistance schools, special schools (at-risk kids) and MASTIS schools (Majority Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students).

This decision will cut $44 million from these schools across the country.

Senator Lambie: “I’m absolutely gutted for the kids at these schools. I’ve visited these schools, and seen the work they do. They’re absolutely brilliant. They get kids off the streets and give them a go. It helps to break the cycle.”

“It brings me to tears when I walk into these places. My son left school in grade eight. I wonder if it would have made a difference if these schools had been around then. If he could have had another go at things.”

Affected schools say they will have to start cutting staff next week if the proposed changes are going ahead. Senator Lambie has met with the Minister for Education about this issue.

“I’ve met with the Minister and he’s told me he’s working on a fix. But he can’t guarantee that these kids won’t be worse off when they’re done.”

“These kids need more funding, not less.”

Senator Tammy Tyrrell knows the value of these schools, and urges the government to reconsider the changes.

“I’ve had a family member whose son was on the waiting list for one of these schools. They ended up moving to the mainland to get the care they needed.”

“These schools are so important. I think when departments make decisions based on money, it’s easy to forget they impact real people at the end of the day.”

Background:

These schools have had a ‘deeming’ funding process in place. Now they are being told they need to go back to Student Background Data (essentially a means test). It’s incredibly difficult to get this data for these students and incomplete or incorrect forms equals less money for these schools.

There are also issues with these three streams of independent schools being lumped in with private religious schools – all of them are referred to as ‘independent schools’, despite being widely different in circumstance.