TASMANIAN PRESIDENT’S REPORT Emily Gardner It gives me much pleasure to present my first report as the new Tasmanian State President. I was elected President at the Tasmanian State AGM in March this year. My predecessor Kate Thompson has done an amazing job as President, including leading the state ICPA team to organise a very successful Federal Conference on the 7th and 8th of August, in Launceston last year. For the smallest state with the smallest membership within ICPA Australia‐wide, this was a massive undertaking. At our last AGM, we saw some long term and very hard working members leaving our State Council and they were particularly involved in the organisation of Federal Conference. I would like to thank them all for their commitment and passion for this organisation, they are: Pip Allwright, Annie Browning, Jan Burbury, Susan Kean, Maree McConnon, and Adele Plunkett. We also welcomed 6 new members to our council which combined with our State Councillors that remain, will make an exciting and dynamic group who will represent our members’ needs into the future. The main issues for ICPA Tasmanian State Council since the last Federal Conference have been: Extending year 11 and 12 into rural schools State Council has seen the introduction of years 11 and 12 into rural schools this year, as this was the number one objective of the new government to increase engagement and retention of students and their potential in the workplace. As of February 2015, six schools have commenced the first stages of offering year 11 programs, they are: St Helens, St Marys, Dover, Huonville, Scottsdale and Smithton High Schools. We have had discussions with the Minister for Education and Training, Jeremy Rockliff and also the Secretary of the Education Department, Colin Petit in relation to our concerns around subject availability, access to resources (Information Technology (IT), subject‐specific teaching staff), the transition to e‐learning and the appropriateness for some students and subjects, and these issues will continue to be monitored by us. Tasmanian State Council has also been lobbying our State Minister and Department for Education and Training to ensure that the introduction of years 11 and 12, does not adversely impact on our ability to claim the Assistance for Isolated Children. We have received confirmation from the department that all the schools that are extending into year 11 and 12 will be placed on the ‘Limited Program Schools (Bypass Schools) List – ABSTUDY, Assistance for Isolated Children (AIC) and Youth Allowance (YA)’, to date there are 22 schools on this list. Submissions In December 2014, ICPA Tasmania submitted a submission to the Review of the Tasmanian Education Act. The main points that our submission highlighted and reinforced were: ● All children and young people of Tasmania have equity of access to high‐quality appropriate education (including early childhood education) that develops their potential and maximises their achievements, allowing them to attain the best possible educational outcome irrespective of disadvantage including geographical location. ● The Tasmanian educational system needs to provide subject‐specific or year‐level specific trained teachers. Rural schools should be able to attract the same qualified teachers and not be disadvantaged by their remoteness. ● The Act should identify the Australian Curriculum as the national standard to guide the curriculum delivered. ● Early Childhood programs should benefit children in their transition to compulsory school incorporating social, emotional, cognitive and academic development and must be accessible, flexible and affordable. They are imperative to families of rural Tasmania so like their urban counterparts they can be prepared for compulsory school. Reports 20 Federal Conference 2015 We are still awaiting the outcome of the review. Membership At this stage, memberships are down on where we were at the same time last year. We have formulated some strategies to address the declining numbers including each branch promoting ICPA for members to join up via mail out, a greater presence at ICPA related functions and trialling some new membership packs with all the relevant ICPA information. With a largely new State Council and fresh ideas coming from within council, I am positive we can increase numbers substantially in the coming years. Tertiary Access Allowance Tasmanian State Council was delighted to see the recent proposed budget changes in relation to higher education reform, in particular the removal of the Family Assets Test and Family Actual Means Test, and changing the Parental Income Test to include all siblings of the applicant. This will significantly increase the number of students from rural and remote Australia, who are eligible for dependent Youth Allowance, and in turn improve participation rates of tertiary education in these students. This is particularly relevant in Tasmania, which has one of the lowest rates of students going on from school to university. Reform of Federation White Paper – Hobart Roundtable The Reform of Federation White Paper Roundtable discussions were held in Hobart on 16th and 17th February 2015 and 68 organisations were invited to participate. We had 2 representatives from State Council attend, following are some of the key points from the discussions: ● Schools should play a bigger role in early childhood services. ● Improving the quality of teachers and education staff in Tasmania. ● Consideration to extend funding under the National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education particularly children from disadvantaged backgrounds. ● Address the lack of capital funding to establish new services. ● States should be responsible for the outcomes of school education and the outcomes need to be measurable. ● VET should not be characterised as a “second class education”. ● Pathways between VET and Higher Education should be more fluid. ● There are some difficulties with VET in schools e.g. resourcing. ● The Physical infrastructure could be utilised better in Tasmania e.g. combined VET and Higher Education infrastructure. ● School leavers are unable or unwilling to travel long distances to attend university. This means the quality and accessibility of the University of Tasmania has a bigger impact on the opportunities of local students than most mainland universities. ● Smaller regional universities are important sources of local and state employment, innovation and economic development, so the states should be more involved in policy and funding discussions. We are waiting for further developments of this White Paper leading to the release of the Green Paper later this year. State Conference Tasmanian State Council did not host a State Conference last year due to the large undertaking of the Federal Conference in August. This year we are hosting our third ever State Conference on Wednesday, 16th September, 2015 at the Ross Town Hall. Midlands Tasmania Branch will be the convening committee, assisted by State Council. Please follow any of our updates for our State Conference and any other news within Tasmania in the new look website. Reports 21 Federal Conference 2015 I am very excited about my new role as President of the Tasmanian ICPA State Council. I look forward to a challenging term representing our local members in the best possible way for the future, to ensure Tasmanian rural and remote kids continue to have a voice within our state government. Reports 22 Federal Conference 2015