ACT Implementation of National Education Reform

In 2008, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) committed to a comprehensive education reform agenda for Australia. To facilitate this agenda, a new form of payment under National Partnership agreements, was developed to fund specific projects and deliver on nationally-significant reforms. 

National Partnership agreements mark the beginning of a new way in which government and non-government schools and the ACT and the Australian Governments will work together to deliver better outcomes for students.

National Partnership agreements are joint initiatives of the Australian Government, the ACT Government, the ACT Catholic Education Office and ACT Association of Independent Schools.

The National Partnerships focus on the following areas of priority:

• Literacy and Numeracy: this Partnership will focus on the key areas of teaching, leadership and the effective use of student performance information to deliver sustained improvement in literacy and numeracy outcomes, especially for those students who are falling behind.
• Low Socio-economic Status School Communities: this Partnership supports a range of in and out of school reforms that are aimed at transforming the way schooling takes place in our most disadvantaged school communities. The Partnership aims to improve student engagement and attainment.
• Teacher Quality: this Partnership is designed to drive reform and innovation to improve the quality of teaching and leadership in ACT schools and to sustain a quality teaching workforce.
• Digital Education Revolution: this Partnership is designed to provide ICT upgrades in secondary schools (years 9-12) to achieve a student to computer ratio of 1:1 by 2011.
• Early Childhood Reform (Universal Access): this Partnership aims to achieve universal access to early childhood education for all children in the year before schooling by 2013. These preschool programs are to be delivered by a four year university qualified early childhood teacher, in accordance with the national early years learning framework, for 15 hours a week, 40 weeks a year.
• Productivity Places Program: this Partnership aims to deliver additional training places in national and ACT priority industries, occupations and qualifications. The initiative will integrate with current programs and support other initiatives that sustain training growth.
• Youth Transitions and Attainment: this Partnership aims to achieve a national year 12 or equivalent attainment rate of 90 percent by 2015 by introducing a mandatory requirement for all young people to participate in school until they complete year 10 and, once they complete year 10, to continue in education, training or employment until they turn 17. The agreement also provides for an education or training entitlements for young people in a way that suits their needs, abilities and their plans for the future.
• Trade Training Centres initiative: this partnership aims to improve the quality of schooling for students in years 9 to 12, by providing funding for trade training centres which target skills development in traditional trades such as Building, Automotive, Construction, Hospitality and Hairdressing.

Further Details

During 2009, the ACT has progressed involvement in the COAG reform agenda, with the completion in July of preliminary implementation plans.

As the ACT finalises its implementation plans for these National Partnerships, they will be published here. Currently, there are preliminary implementation plans for a number of the National Partnership Agreements. Further work will be undertaken to finalise these plans by the end of 2009.

• Literacy and Numeracy Preliminary Implementation Plan  (116kb)
• ACT Preliminary Low Socio-economic School communities Preliminary Implementation Plan  (121kb)
• ACT Preliminary Teacher Quality Preliminary Implementation Plan  (159kb)

Copies of National Partnership Agreements are available at: www.coag.gov.au/intergov_agreements/federal_financial_relations/index.cfm