We thank the Minister for generously giving her time so early in her new portfolio, and thank the parents, carers and P&C representatives who attended and contributed questions.
Members raised issues ranging from school funding and teacher shortages to disability inclusion, flexible education, infrastructure and parent advocacy.
Below is a summary of the main questions and responses, in the order they were raised at the meeting.
2027 school budgets and resourcing
Q: Where is the 2027 school budget process up to? What can schools expect and when are budgets likely to be finalised?
A: The Minister advised that engagement with school leaders, ACT Parents and unions would occur over the following weeks. The system is transitioning towards needs-based funding through the student resource allocation model, with a focus on sustainability, equity and greater consistency.
Funding adjustments will vary between schools and significant changes are intended to be managed through a transition process. Greater certainty about 2027 budgets was expected by the end of August.
One Public Education System
Q: Where is the One Public Education System work up to, what are the immediate priorities and what should schools and families expect over the next few months?
A: The Minister identified priorities including high-quality teaching and learning, student wellbeing, equitable and sustainable resourcing and greater system support.
An implementation roadmap is expected by the end of September. The Minister also confirmed that the Reform Partners Group, which includes ACT Parents, would proceed and play an ongoing role in implementation.
Minister’s priorities for public education
Q: Having taken on the Education portfolio, what are the Minister’s key priorities and what would she most like to see change or improve over the coming year?
A: The Minister spoke about being a product of ACT public schools and wanting public education to be an excellent first choice for every family, providing opportunity for every child regardless of background.
She said her immediate approach would be to listen, understand and build on reforms already underway, with a strong focus on implementation and partnership.
Equity across the system
Q: Parents described inequity in resources and opportunities between public schools, particularly for schools serving disadvantaged communities. How can the system ensure every school provides excellent opportunities and better engage families who may face barriers to participation?
A: The Minister acknowledged that schools experience different challenges relating to size, community circumstances, reputation and infrastructure.
She spoke about understanding those challenges more closely, mobilising resources from the centre and across schools, potentially working through geographic clusters, and finding different and culturally appropriate ways to engage parents and communities.
Teacher shortages and disrupted learning
Q: What should the experience of students affected by teacher shortages look like in 2027? Can families expect fewer split, collapsed and flexed classes? Where schools experience repeated disruption, what system-level response will be provided rather than leaving individual schools to manage it?
A: The Minister identified appropriate staffing profiles, better support for teachers, stronger central support for casual teacher backfill and greater support for principals as areas requiring attention.
She also raised the need to consider how schools can be better supported through networks or clusters and how central support can assist principals facing recurring workforce pressures.
Disability inclusion and the burden of parent advocacy
Q: What will the One Public Education System reforms change for families who currently have to repeatedly advocate for their child to receive appropriate adjustments and support? How will access to support become less dependent on the school a child attends or a parent’s ability to navigate the system?
A: The Minister discussed stronger central support, greater consistency between schools and a shift towards support based on functional need.
She emphasised earlier and more proactive conversations with families, so parents are not continually required to advocate for their child. The Minister acknowledged that, at this early stage in the portfolio, she did not yet have a complete answer about how consistent access would be achieved across all schools.
Equity and redistribution of school resources
Q: If the system is serious about greater equity, will resources currently allocated to better-resourced schools be redirected to schools with greater need?
A: The Minister advised that the impact would vary between schools depending on their current allocation and student need.
The transition back to the Student Resource Allocation (SRA) model would involve adjustments based on factors including disability, need for behavioural supports and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student needs. Some schools may receive increases and others decreases, with transition arrangements to manage significant changes.
Priority enrolment areas and access to opportunities
Q: How will government ensure where a student lives does not determine the range and quality of opportunities available to them? How can students access opportunities such as music, art and other non-core subjects through their local school?
A: The Minister said the goal must be for every school to be an excellent school.
Priority enrolment areas remain important for the sustainability of the system, while legitimate reasons for out-of-area enrolment will continue to exist. The Directorate is working to make the out-of-area enrolment process clearer for families.
The Minister also acknowledged challenges around access to specialist subjects and raised the potential for greater cooperation between schools or school clusters.
Confidence and listening to school communities
Q: Given that the Public School Resourcing Review confirmed problems that parents, students, educators and school leaders had been raising for years, what will the Minister do to rebuild confidence in school communities, so concerns are recognised, acknowledged and acted on sooner?
A: The Minister said she intended to spend time listening directly to children and young people, parents and carers, teachers, learning support assistants, principals and other school staff.
She highlighted the Reform Partners Group as an important mechanism for ensuring representative and lived-experience voices remain involved throughout the reform process and can hold the system to account.
Changes to disability funding and support
Q: What is happening with changes to how disability support is determined in ACT schools, including the move from the SCAN process towards the use of NCCD information? Parents had heard changes were coming but had received limited information about implementation.
A: The Minister said the approach would become clearer through discussions about 2027 school budgets.
She explained that the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) focuses on educational adjustments rather than diagnosis and that this approach will inform the distribution of disability funding.
Differences in schools’ capacity to collect NCCD data were acknowledged, and changes in funding are expected to be moderated over time to avoid substantial sudden increases or decreases.
Students returning after extended absence
Q: What support does the Education Directorate provide to help students reintegrate into mainstream classes after a period of absence?
A: The Minister said the appropriate response depends heavily on the individual student, the reason for the absence and the supports provided during that period, and took the broader question on notice.
She referred to flexible education and outreach approaches. Advice provided during the meeting noted that schools have student wellbeing supports and will draw on these to support students transitioning back to school. Depending on the individual circumstances of the student, this might include social work, psychologists or other support.
ACT Parents note
During the discussion, reference was made to school wellbeing teams as a source of support for students returning to school following an extended absence. It is important to distinguish between supports available within individual schools and centralised supports provided by the Education Directorate.
At the school level, the availability, composition and capacity of wellbeing support varies across ACT public schools. Not every school has access to the same specialist staff or has the capacity to provide support. Families should therefore not interpret the discussion as meaning that every school has a wellbeing team with access to specialist staff, or that reintegration support can be routinely provided across all schools.
At the system level, there are centralised wellbeing supports available to ACT public school students. However, demand for these services is high, access can involve waiting periods, and support is generally triaged according to student need. This means these services may not be available when, or at the level, a student needs to return to and re-engage with school.
Currently, there is not a system-wide reintegration support model available to all students returning following an extended absence.
The One Public Education System reforms provide an important opportunity to better coordinate and, where appropriate, centralise supports so that access is driven by student need rather than the capacity or resources available at an individual school.
ACT Parents considers it critical that families have clear and realistic expectations about what support is available, where it can be accessed and when they can reasonably expect to receive it. Referring families to supports that may not be available when they need them is not helpful and can add further frustration and disappointment for families already navigating difficult circumstances.
We do not want to create unrealistic expectations about what either schools or the broader public education system can reasonably provide.
School infrastructure
Q: Concerns were raised about delays to a promised playground while roof works are undertaken at Charnwood-Dunlop Primary School. Could the school coordinate the works, so disruptions occur together, particularly given the limited amount of play space already unavailable? Concerns were also raised about delays to an all-abilities playground.
A: The Minister was aware of the roof works but did not have information about the playground project and agreed to follow the matter up.
The member offered to provide information comparing outdoor facilities across schools in the electorate, which ACT Parents agreed to forward to the Minister.
Support for neurodivergent students
Q: What are the Minister’s priorities for students with disability, particularly what is the Education Directorate doing to align its work with the National Autism Strategy?
A: The Minister referred to the development of stronger universal supports for neurodivergent students through Strong Foundations, including consideration of sensory needs in newer school infrastructure.
She also discussed links with early childhood and child development work intended to provide earlier support to children and families (Thriving Kids).
Specialist education settings
Q: What is the Minister’s view of specialist education settings and their role within the broader inclusion agenda?
A: The Minister expressed support for specialist schools and their staff and said there is much that mainstream schools can learn from them.
She noted that inclusion can take different forms and that specialist settings remain an important part of the education system, while also emphasising the need for mainstream schools to become more inclusive.
Recording technology and student privacy
Q: With inexpensive glasses and other emerging devices capable of recording audio and video and livestreaming to social media, will specific policies be developed to address their use in schools?
A: The Minister said that covert recording of children and young people in a school environment is absolutely unacceptable regardless of the device being used.
She had not yet discussed the particular technology with the Directorate but expected that emerging recording devices may require an update to existing policy.
Flexible education, school refusal and student safety
Q: How can the system better support children and young people experiencing school refusal, neurodivergence, disability, behavioural challenges or other complex circumstances while keeping them, other students and school staff safe and ensuring they retain equitable access to education?
A: The Minister discussed the need to broaden and continue expanding flexible education responses, including flexible education, outreach and specialised programs.
She acknowledged that students who cannot engage successfully in mainstream schooling do so for many different reasons and therefore require different responses.
She emphasised the value of investing in safe and positive education options for these students, while recognising there is no simple or single solution.
Parent advocacy and navigating the system
Q: For parents advocating for children with complex needs, should issues continue to be pursued through the school, escalated to the Directorate, or raised elsewhere to ensure greater oversight and support?
A: The Minister said she wanted to continue hearing about families’ experiences and referred to funding in the 2026–27 Budget for ACT Parents to establish an independent parent advocacy service.
The service is intended to help parents navigate complex issues and provide an independent point of advocacy when families encounter difficulties at school or Directorate level in the 2027 and 2028 school years.
ACT Parents note
ACT Parents will continue to assist families where possible while the new service is being established. Families struggling with inclusion supports or school refusal are invited to contact our office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..