Truancy rife in APY despite Labor claims

MORE than a third of students are not regularly attending school in South Australia's remote Aboriginal lands.

MORE than a third of students are not regularly attending school in South Australia's remote Aboriginal lands, despite claims by the state Labor government of substantial improvements in the troubled region.

The poor performance, shown in latest figures provided by the Education Department, comes despite South Australian law dictating that children between the ages of six and 16 must attend school.

The state government claims it has "fully implemented" an urgent recommendation to improve attendance in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia's far north.

Education Minister Grace Portolesi said attendance rates on the lands had substantially improved in the past decade under state Labor, but indigenous welfare experts rubbished her claim.

In early 2008, the Mullighan Inquiry into sexual abuse on the APY Lands recommended the SA government should ensure all efforts were made to ensure children were in a safe school environment.

In November last year, the government claimed it had "fully implemented" this recommendation.

Education Department data shows the average attendance figures for last year were just 65 per cent, with two of the APY's largest communities in Ernabella and Amata recording just 58 per cent.

Ms Portolesi said: "It is clear from recent years' attendance records that there have been substantial improvements in school attendance on the APY Lands over the past decade."

Indigenous policy manager at Uniting Care Wesley, Jonathon Nicholls, said this was incorrect.

"It is simply not the case that there have been significant improvements in school attendance, and if anything in a number of communities attendance has declined," he said. "It beggars belief the government could report last year to parliament that Mullighan's recommendation on attendance has been fully implemented.

"Commissioner Mullighan said that when kids are in school they are much more likely to be safe, but what this tells us is one in three children is not at school and one in three children is not as safe as they should be."

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Paul Caica cancelled an interview with The Australian about his private tour last week through the APY Lands. He has come under fire for avoiding visiting a town in the lands where a girl, 9, killed herself in January. In a written statement Mr Caica said: "There is still a need for greater co-ordination of services across the federal and state governments and the APY communities."

Communities Minister Ian Hunter said there were problems in service delivery that needed improvement and they "could not go to every community".