RESTORING NORMS , BUILDING CAPABILITIES SO OUR PEOPLE CAN CHOOSE LIVES WE HAVE REASON TO VALUE An Ag

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RESTORING NORMS , BUILDING CAPABILITIES SO OUR
PEOPLE CAN CHOOSE LIVES WE HAVE REASON TO
VALUEAn Agenda for Cape York
PeninsulaQueensland Secondary Schools
Principals ConferenceNoel Pearson9 June 2006
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What do we mean by Welfare Reform in Cape York
Peninsula?
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We have therefore defined Welfare Reform as a
comprehensive developmental agenda
requiring reform across the full range of
factors that are necessary for economic
development
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End goal of Cape York Agenda

• For the indigenous people of Cape York Peninsula
  to have the capabilities to choose lives they
  have reason to value
• Amartya Sen
• Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
• Development as Freedom

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Are remote communities economically, culturally
and socially viable in the long term?
It depends on whether, after maximising
education and mobility, people choose to maintain
their community by maximising local development
opportunities and removing passive welfare from
external supports to the community.
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New Deal on Welfare Opt-in by indigenous
communities

• 1. We are advocating an opt-in approach to
  welfare reform where communities negotiate a new
  deal for welfare for their people
• 2. Mainstream welfare reform will not go far
  enough
• 3. Commonwealth Government should create a system
  which
• enables Opt - in
• provides capacity to link Commonwealth income
  support system with State services dealing with
  families, justice and youth

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The Cape York Agenda targets reform in three areas
Choice
Freedom
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CAPABILITIES Enabling Structures and Supports
CHOICE Rational Incentives
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SOCIAL AND CULTURAL NORMS Foundation
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- 6 -
- 6 -
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At present, many social norms in Cape York are
dysfunctional

• Cape / Torres Area

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But it should be viewed as the result of a web of
dysfunctions
Child Protection Issue
Underlying Dysfunctions
Abuse Physical, emotional, or sexual violence by
parent against child
Violence
Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Money Wasted, Disrupted Home Environment
Neglect Failure by parents to provide for childs
essential needs shelter, amenities, food, and
education
Gambling
Low school attendance
Self-Harm Child endangers own well-being
Petrol Sniffing
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This project offers an historic opportunity to
intervene in a new way
State Service Delivery E.g. Law Order, Child
Safety, Health, Education
Commonwealth Income Support E.g. Family Tax
Benefit, Parenting Payments

Opportunity for More Effective Interventions to
Address Dysfunction in Cape York
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A mechanism is needed to seize this opportunity
State Service Delivery
Commonwealth Income Support
Ensure Coordinated Program of Support To
Dysfunctional Families
Redirect Welfare Payments (As Last Resort)
Intervention Mechanism
Family Dysfunction
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Family Commission will intervene early to address
underlying dysfunctions
Child Protection Issue
Underlying Dysfunctions
Abuse Physical, emotional, or sexual violence by
parent against child
Violence
Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Money Wasted, Disrupted Home Environment
Neglect Failure by parents to provide for childs
essential needs shelter, amenities, food, and
education
Gambling
Low school attendance
Self-Harm Child endangers own well-being
Petrol Sniffing
Preference is to address dysfunction here ...
... to prevent need for custodial intervention
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But it would also assist after intervention by
the State
State Agencies may refer some cases to the
Commission to oversee program of parental support
and enable return of child to the family
Commission would complement (not take over)
States role
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Commission would use support programs first,
sanctions second
Underlying Dysfunctions
Child Protection Issue
Referral

• Support Programs
• Treatment Clinics drug, alcohol, gambling,
  petrol sniffing, other VSA(2)
• Parenting Classes
• Family Income Management
• Work Placement
• Family Counselling

Families Commission Step 1 Encourage/enforce
participation in relevant support programs Step
2 If support refused/ ineffective, implement
relevant sanctions
Early Intervention

• E.g. Justice group, health official, principal,
  family member
• Volatile Substance Abuse

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School attendance is a product of three
inter-related sets of factors
Source PSPI Attendance Project Report, 2006
Federal Report on Better Practice in School
Attendance, 2000 Press Articles and Online
Literature
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Broadly, there are four types of strategies to
encourage attendance
Typology of School Attendance Strategies
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1
Parents want their children to attend school,
and want to be involved at school themselves
School is a place where children want to be
Pull
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4
School is a place where children have to be
Parents are forced to send their children to
school
Push
Children
Parents
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There are numerous possible initiatives within
each strategy
Examples of Specific School Attendance Initiatives

• Ensure children have essential materials to learn
• Food, uniforms, books funded by parents (FIM)
  or school
• Create attractive environment, including
  facilities and activities
• Beautify grounds, paint murals, stamp out
  bullying/ racism
• Computers, air-con, lunchtime club, excursions
• Ensure school is seen as interesting, relevant,
  and worthwhile
• Local content art, history, music, poss. use
  Elders to teach
• Choice of learning programmes vocational vs.
  academic
• Establish high expectations
• Teach the importance of education long-term
  horizon
• Run special needs programmes
• Literacy/ numeracy, self-esteem, behaviour,
  interpersonal
• Offer incentives for attendance
• Points, positive reinforcement, activities,
  material rewards

• Engage parents in school activities and
  curriculum
• Get parents to read to kids, lead playgroups/
  sports teams, join excursions
• Make literacy and numeracy classes available to
  parents
• Involve parents in school decision-making
  (principle of subsidiarity)
• Educate parents on importance of education
• Forums/ one-on-one discussion of long-term role
  of education pathway to opportunity/ employment
  vs. welfare/ crime
• Provide parenting classes to teach and improve
  parenting skills
• How to provide appropriate care, out-of-class
  tuition, importance of role models, impact of
  substance abuse etc.

Pull

• Round-up absent children each morning
• Provide a vehicle to pick-up children
• Police, Liaison Officer, Justice Group, or
  special community group to visit homes, sweep
  streets
• Impose sanctions for non-attendance
• E.g. clean graffiti, pick-up litter after school
• E.g. not permitted to attend special events/
  excursions
• Restrict options for children in community during
  school hours
• E.g. Children not served at shop
• Memo of Understanding with police to return kids
  to school
• Use Elders to explain traditional obligation to
  learn

• Make visits to speak to parents, explain possible
  sanctions
• Principal, teachers, liaison officer, police
• Encourage/ compel participation in parent and
  family programs
• E.g. FIM, cooking classes, parenting program
• (Threaten to) charge parents under Education Act
• Parents of truant children lt15yrs can be fined
  (by JPs court)
• (Threaten to) redirect welfare payments
• Transfer payments to responsible caregiver
• (Threaten to) place children in protective care
• Failure to ensure attendance constitutes neglect

Push
Children
Parents
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The Welfare Payments Reform project offers an
opportunity to pull the payments lever, but only
as last resort
Proposed Approach

• The Families Commission would have the power to
  redirect welfare payments to a responsible
  caregiver
• Schools would be responsible for reporting
  chronic truancy to the Commission
• But this measure would only be invoked where
  other initiatives had been exhausted
• And a redirection order would need to be
  accompanied by necessary support measures
• E.g. police restraining order to prevent
  humbugging
• The Commission would have the power to reinstate
  payments to parents where it is satisfied (by
  reports from child services, police, school etc)
  that it is appropriate and beneficial to do so

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In summary, a school attendance strategy should
be holistic and based on a process of escalation

• The starting point for an attendance strategy
  should be the pull initiatives that internalise
  the behaviour. Continuity of efforts is critical
• The next logical step are the children push
  initiatives that a school can implement without
  resort to external intervention

• In cases of ongoing absences, CJG should visit
  and counsel parents, and recommend participation
  in appropriate programs
• E.g. FIM, parenting classes

• Where the problem persists, Families Commission
  should intervene
• Compel participation in support programs
• Redirect welfare payments to a responsible
  caregiver

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Developing demand for education
Current focus of investment and policy

• Schools funding
• Infrastructure and equipment
• School leadership
• Teacher recruitment and performance
• Curriculum reform
• Professional development for teachers
• System accountability for outcomes

• Quality Schools
• Quality School Leaders
• Quality Teachers

Teaching Supply
No effective policy or investment
Learning Demand

• Social context of substance abuse and violence
  addressed
• Ensuring school readiness, attendance and
  behaviour issues
• Family development around income management,
  health and educational engagement
• Engagement of parents, families and communities
  in educational activities and partnerships
• Focus on early childhood learning

• Students that are curious and ready to learn
• Parents supporting their childrens education
• Community that values education

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Step 1 Build learning demand by engaging
students, parents and communities in the
importance of education
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Step 2 Put the building blocks of literacy and
numeracy in place by the time children start
walking and talking
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Step 3 Fix up teaching supply so that we close
the gap between Year 7 in Cape York and Year 8 at
Secondary Schools down south
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Step 4 Support transitions to High Quality, High
Expectation Secondary Schools down south
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Step 5 Educational, work, sporting and artistic
orbits to the wider world and back home