Rural and Remote Education Inquiry

Rural and Remote Education Inquiry

 

The National Inquiry into Rural and Remote Education was initiated by the Commission in February 1999. The 1998 Bush Talks consultations on the human rights concerns of regional, rural and remote Australians had revealed that access to education of an appropriate standard and quality was a significant concern in rural and remote areas.

In this section you'll find

• Terms of reference
• Evidence and submissions
• Briefing papers
• Scoping survey
• Reports of the Inquiry
• Evaluation Report

Terms of reference

The Commission will inquire into the provision of education for children in rural and remote Australia with reference to

1. the availability and accessibility of both primary and secondary schooling
2. the quality of educational services, including technological support services
3. whether the education available to children with disabilities, Indigenous children and children from diverse cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds complies with their human rights.

Evidence and submissions

• National submissions, hearings and meetings
• New South Wales submissions, hearings and meetings
• Northern Territory submissions, hearings and meetings
• Queensland submissions, hearings and meetings
• South Australian submissions, hearings and meetings
• Tasmanian submissions, hearings and meetings
• Victorian submissions, hearings and meetings
• Western Australian submissions, hearings and meetings

Briefing papers

• The human right to education
• Commonwealth income support for students
• Information technology infrastructure
• School education for students with special needs
• Career structures, allowances and incentives for teachers
• Annotated bibliography on rural and remote education
• Indigenous education

Scoping Survey (1999)

This survey was undertaken by the Youth Research Centre, Melbourne University in 1999, on behalf of the Inquiry. A total of 3,128 people responded.

Reports of the Inquiry

Education Access

This report was launched in Griffith on 3 August 2000 by Human Rights Commissioner Chris Sidoti. 'Education Access' recommends ways of improving access to education for school children in rural and remote areas. It is the last of four reports from the National Inquiry.

Education Access is available for download as a PDF document (3.09 MB) and in Word Format in seven parts:

Education Access (311K)

Report Card on New South Wales (87K)

Report Card on Victoria (87K)

Report Card on Queensland (87K)

Report Card on South Australia (88K)

Report Card on Western Australia (88K)

Report Card on the Northern Territory (87K)

Report Card on Tasmania (88K)

School Communities

This book is about getting involved in your local school. It gives examples of different ways of getting involved, drawn from actual experiences in different parts of Australia:

This book focuses on Indigenous involvement in schools but community involvement is important for all schools and all students. Not every example in this book is an Indigenous example.

'School Communities' is available for download as a PDF document (3.09 MB) and in Word Format. (119 K)

'Emerging Themes'

This publication summarises the major themes, issues and concerns arising in the Inquiry. It concludes with an overview of the human rights provisions relevant to rural and remote school education. This is the first report of the Inquiry.

'Emerging Themes' is available for download as a PDF (168K) and in Word (236K) {C}

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'Recommendations'

This report sets out the findings of the inquiry and its recommendations. There are 73 recommendations in total. The findings and recommendations are organised by reference to the five necessary features of school education: it must be available, accessible, affordable, acceptable and adaptable (Chapters 5-9 inclusive).

'Recommendations' is available for download as aPDF document and in Word Format

Inquiry Evaluation Report

In 2001 the Commission contracted the Centre for Research Policy at the University of Wollongong to to evaluate the Inquiry's methods and effectiveness in partnership with the Commission. The evaluation findings have some general relevance to public inquiries as well as providing insights on the effectiveness of this particular inquiry.

Download PDF (171.68 KB)

Download Word (171.68 KB)

Read the Executive Summary

Last updated 30 August 2002