Rural and Remote Education Reference Group
Date/Time:
Thursday, 05 June 2014 10.00am – 12.00pm
Location:
Boardroom, Level 12, 30 Mary Street Brisbane & in-person
Gary Francis, Director, Workforce Futures (Chair),
Jessica MacPherson, Senior Project Officer, Workforce Futures
Becky Walsh, Director, State Schools – Operations
Vera Zappala, Queensland Catholic Education Commission
Denise Kostowski, Principal, Spinifex State College
John Clark, Principal-Primary, Charters Towers School of Distance Education
Sharon Bright, Infrastructure Management and Support Services
Mai Lupo, Queensland Association of State School Principals
Liam Smith, Regional Director, North Queensland Region - Townsville Office
Sharon Schimming, Regional Director, North Queensland Region
Aleksandr Taylor-Gough, Research Officer, Queensland Teachers’ Union
Wendy Hick, Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association (QLD)
Mark Cooper, Principal Program Officer, Regulation Assessment and Service Quality
Luke Glyde, Manager, Web and Digital Delivery
Loris Doessel, P&Cs QLD
Duncan McKellar, Executive Director, Workforce Services
Cathy Heffernan, Assistant Director-General, Office of the Assistant Director-General Human
Resources
Catherine O’Malley, Executive Director, Regulation Assessment and Service Quality (RASQ)
Joe Willis, Director, Infrastructure Management and Support Services
Raelene Fysh, Principal, State Schools – Performance
Chesleigh Hargreaves, Queensland Association of Special Education Leaders
Jeff Backen, Queensland Teachers’ Union
Michele Walliker, Manager (Funded Programs), Association of the Independent Schools
Queensland
Catherine Clark, Manager, Strategy and Policy
Susan Todhunter, Director, Regulation Assessment and Service Quality
John Lockhart, Director, Digital and Web Delivery
Attendees:
Apologies:
Secretariat:
Angelita Howell, Executive Services Officer, Workforce Initiatives
Discussion/Outcomes
Agenda Item 1: Welcome and Apologies
Chair welcomed the members to the meeting and noted apologies received.
Agenda Item 2: Confirmation of previous minutes
The minutes from the meeting of 11 March 2014 were accepted by members.
Agenda Item 3: Actions arising from previous meeting


Update on Remote Area Tuition Allowance Submission
o
Association received correspondence from the Minister re RATUA submission to the Treasurer.
o
The Treasurer did not support untying RATUA from CPI.
Update regarding WHS guidelines for ICT in classrooms
o

Guidelines are being drafted and will be available for the next RRERG meeting.
Update on Teacher Quality Reference Group
o
An overview was provided on two significant reform actions:

Great teachers = Great results

A Fresh Start (new approach to working with Universities across all sectors).
Agenda Item 4: Terms of Reference 2014

Updated membership was noted.

Members discussed potential for the group to input to policy.

Chair noted and committed to seeking opportunities for the group to provide early feedback and input.
Agenda Item 5: Other Business

Allied health capacity was discussed. DETE continues to work towards solutions regarding therapy,
including exploring options for Tele-health (QLD Health) partnering to work towards whole of government
approach.

ICPA noted that there is a pilot commencing through the North West Hospital Board of using Tele-health
through DETE infrastructure.

Chair will provide information to Members regarding outcomes of the geographically Isolated families
review.

Concerns were flagged regarding RREAP funding. Chair advised no awareness of any changes to
RREAP funding.

Loris enquired about Project 600 (Schools Distance Education). John advised that, through Project 600,
schools receive considerable funds towards literacy and numeracy.
Actions
Responsible
Officer
Ideal Due Date
1
March 2014 Minutes to be uploaded to the Department’s
website.
Secretariat
19 June 2014
4
ICPA to provide further information about the tele-health
pilot with North West Hospital Board.
ICPA
19 June 2014
2
Terms of Reference 2014 to be updated and distributed
prior to the next meeting.
Jessica
MacPherson
21 August 2014
3
Next meeting – discuss the viability and sustainability of
pre-prep programs in rural and remote areas.
Mark Cooper
21 August 2014
5
Next meeting – provide guidelines on students’ devices.
Luke Glyde
21 August 2014
Action Item
Ref
Meeting closed at: 10:55 am
These minutes are a public record. However the Department of Education, Training and Employment (DETE) may redact information from the publicly released
version of these minutes if DETE intends to claim an exemption from disclosure under the Right to Information Act 2009. If such a claim is made by DETE it will
be noted at the relevant part of these minutes.