WESTERN AUSTRALIA SIGNS HISTORIC SCHOOL AGREEMENT SHAPED BY INDIGENOUS VOICES

Western Australia has signed the new national Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, making it the second jurisdiction in Australia to have done so.

NATSIEC welcomed the Federal Government’s new Better and Fairer Schools Agreement. The establishment of the 10 year Agreement has marked a significant step change in education policy development with NATSIEC, the peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education, working in partnership with the Federal Government.

The Government also consulted the Coalition of Peaks and other key Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives, helping ensure that self-determination is embedded into the Agreement.

On development of the new Agreement, NATSIEC Co-Chair Aunty Geraldine Atkinson mentioned that:

“When First Nations People are put in the driver’s seat, our communities get better outcomes. I’m proud to have helped shape this important school reform. A better and fairer education system must include all Australians, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids.”

The new Agreement has also embedded the commitments of all governments to the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. The improvement measures have been designed to recognise existing targets under the Closing the Gap Agreement and develop new targets where they do not already exist. There is an ambitious target to increase the diversity of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educator workforce.

This is the first time a school reform agreement has been developed in partnership with NATSIEC or any other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives.