28 August 2008
Truancy and welfare
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Education Minister Julia Gillard says parents who don't send their children to school will have their welfare payments cut. Payments could be suspended for up to 13 weeks but would be re-paid in full once school attendances improved.
A system of welfare quarantining will be trialled in eight communities, mostly in the Northern Territory. The trial will be assessed in 2010 before a decision is made on its application nationally. So who would benefit from the scheme? The Minister says there could be up to 20,000 children of school age who do not regularly attend school. But is there a link between welfare and truancy? And how would the system be policed?
Guests
Chris Sarra
Executive Director, Indigenous Education Leadership Institute
Brian Burgess
President Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals
Jessica Brown
Policy Analyst, Centre for Independent Studies
Ruth McCausland
Senior Researcher, Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, University of Technology Sydney
Further Information
Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning
Enrolment and attendance legislation
Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals
Family Responsibilities Commission
Presenter
Paul Barclay
Story Researcher and Producer
Debra McCoy
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