Gonski schools reform legislation 'not legally enforceable'

JULIA Gillard's long-awaited legislation on the Gonski school reforms does not have any legal standing.

Gonski review

JULIA Gillard's long-awaited legislation on the Gonski school reforms does not have any legal standing.

An exposure draft of The Australian Education Bill 2012, seen by The Australian Online, is just nine pages long and also does not answer any questions about how the funding reforms will be implemented.

The last section of the draft bill concedes that it does not create any legally enforceable obligations, leading the opposition to question the need for the bill in the first place.

“This Act does not create rights or duties that are legally enforceable in judicial or other proceedings,” the bill reads. “A failure to comply with this Act does not affect the validity of a decision and is not a ground for the review or challenge of any decision.”

Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne said it would provide no certainty to the school sector or the states on the funding reforms.

“The government has created such high expectations that this is an insult to schools - it's like asking a guest around for a banquet and serving them a party pie,” he told The Australian Online. “No self-respecting minister would present such a humiliating document to the parliament and call it an act. It's inaction.”

The bill, which will be introduced in the last week of parliament this year, instead makes statements like “all school students in all schools are entitled to an excellent education” and should be “allowed to reach their full potential”.

The objectives of the Act are for the Australian school system to be ranked, by 2015, as one of the top five highest performing countries for student performance and for the schooling system to be “highly equitable”.

In Ms Gillard's speech on the Gonski school reforms in September, she pledged to introduce legislation by the end of the year to “enshrine our nation's expectations for what we will achieve for our children... and our preparedness to put success for every child at the heart of how we deliver and fund education”.

The government has also set itself the deadline of next April's Council of Australian Governments Meeting to have worked out the new formula for school funding, but doubts have been raised about whether that will be possible, given the states have so far received little detail.

In the section of the Act that deals with school funding, it says that state governments or independent education authorities which reach agreement with the commonwealth will get in return “funding for schools or school systems, through grants of financial assistance”.

But the bill does not go into any further detail about how this is formulated or any costs associated with the proposed model.

A spokeswoman for Education Minister Peter Garrett defended the bill, saying it confirms the government is committed to a new funding system.

“The effect of this bill will be to enshrine our intentions in legislation. We will update the legislation as negotiations conclude with education authorities,” she said.

“This is a hugely important reform for our nation's future. We need to take the time to get it right and education stakeholders understand that.”