Submission to the Review of the National School Reform Agreement

A good education is critical to the future of every child and young person. As such, access to education is enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Under the UNCRC, all children in Australia have the right to an education.

Children and young people are passionate about their education and what it will offer them beyond school.  They are also aware that they need educators and government to look out for them as they navigate key transitions during the school years. 

A complex range of social, economic, health and family factors can lead to absences and disengagement or detachment from school. Many of these barriers and experiences are not recognised in national policy initiatives. The next National School Reform Agreement is an opportunity to address this.

Specifically, the Commissioner recommends that the next National School Reform Agreement include:

1. Measures and policy initiatives that actively support and track student voice and agency in schools.

2. Measures and policy initiatives specific to improving educational outcomes for the following groups of students:
   1. Children and young people with chronic illnesses.
   2. Children and young people with caring responsibilities.
   3. LGBTQIA+ children and young people.
   4. Children and young people affected by parental incarceration.
   5. Children and young people in out-of-home care.
3. National policy initiatives that reduce the short and long-term impacts of child poverty on student engagement, wellbeing and participation. This includes policies that:
   1. Recognise the true cumulative cost of school and address inequities to ensure every student can fully participate in school life.
   2. Improve digital inclusion, both in terms of student access to digital devices and data and development of digital literacy and digital citizenship.
   3. Formally recognise menstruation and ‘period poverty’ as a barrier to school attendance and engagement and develop best practice resources for schools in relation to period product and bin supply, bathroom access and uniform policy.
4. National policy initiatives in relation to the following:
   1. Prioritise improving the consistency and quality of civics and citizenship education.
   2. Support schools to prevent and respond to bullying in ways that reflect children and young people’s voices and experiences.
   3. Recognise and address the impacts of gender stereotypes and sexism on students.
5. Student wellbeing as an outcome alongside associated targets, consistent with recommendations from the Productivity Commission’s Mental Health Inquiry as well as students’ views and expectations.
6. Additional measures in the Measurement Framework for Schooling to provide a more relevant, reliable and complete picture of student engagement and attainment outcomes, including measures that:
   1. Monitor school suspensions and exclusions (including internal inclusions), with a view to reducing exclusionary practices.
   2. Make visible children who are currently detached from school and ‘missing’ from current measures of attendance, retention and achievement.