Chaplains in schools instead of properly trained youth counsellors, religious indoctrination in public schools, the warping of the Gonski review’s recommendations (aka ‘Better Schools’) to appease the religious sector — it’s little wonder we’re concerned for the future of our children now, and even moreso under an Abbott-led government!

  • The National Schools Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Program (NSCSWP or NSCP) is currently costing around $430 million p.a. In cases where young people are questioning their sexual orientation or exploring their sexuality for the first time, schools need fully qualified and unbiased counsellors — not preachers.
  • Most states allow evangelistic organisations to send volunteers into government schools to indoctrinate children, usually on an opt-out basis. Parents are often not properly informed, classes are segregated, and those children who are opted out usually cannot undertake any meaningful activity during scripture classes. There have been cases where children have been made to sit in the corridor while these classes are in progress.
  • The Gonski panel recommended that most of the money should go to the bottom quartile, the most disadvantaged, which were almost all government schools. However, the Catholic Education System fought for a greater share, which means that the more disadvantaged public schools will get less. They have been doing this at the same time as their bishops were fronting up to abuse inquiries, soon to include the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse.
  • Education is the future of our nation. Don’t our kids deserve better than this?

Please refer to all our education policies, and to our other policies too.

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