Every student in every local school will get the support they need to reach their full potential with Labor’s Your Child, Our Future plan for Australia’s schools.

A Labor Government will fully implement and fund the Gonski reforms on-time and in-full – meaning every student in our region will benefit from increased needs-based funding.

Your Child. Our Future will see an additional investment in our education system of $4.5 billion for years five and six of the Gonski reforms and provision $37.3 billion over the decade.

Member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon, said Labor’s Your Child, Our Future plan will deliver the most significant improvement in school education in Australia for two generations.

“We know that education makes a difference to people’s lives. For individuals, it opens the door to jobs and opportunity, and for our country, it builds prosperity and a secure economy.”

“Ensuring Australia’s workforce is ready for the jobs of the future begins in schools – Your Child. Our Future will build the education system our children need to be successful in the future economy.”

Member for Charlton, Pat Conroy said:

“I’m a parent, and like most parents I want the best for my children. A great education is the single most important thing we can do to provide opportunities for the next generation, and we simply can’t expect schools to keep up if they are under-resourced.”

“We have to fund schools properly, and Labor is going to do that.”

With Labor’s Your Child. Our Future plan, every student, in every school will get the support they need to achieve their potential. It will include:

• More individual attention to our students:

- Tailored attention and more one-on-one time with students including literacy and numeracy programs and support;

- More subject choices, extension classes and extra-curricular activities, so that every child is engaged at school;

- Funding based on individual needs, which will give greater power and flexibility to schools to tailor programs to meet the needs of their students

• Better trained teachers

- Improving initial teacher education and toughening entry standards; more professional support for teachers in the classroom;

- Lifting the qualifications of STEM teachers in the classroom, ensuring that by 2020, all secondary STEM teachers are tertiary qualified in their discipline;

- More support for principals and better school leadership.

• More support for students with special learning needs

- Providing $320 million over three years in additional funding from 2017 – more than reversing the Turnbull Liberal Government’s cuts to students with disability.

Member for Shortland, Jill Hall, said that investment in education is one of the most important priority’s for Australia’s future, and that Malcolm Turnbull’s cuts to education would have a severe impact in our region.

“The Liberals’ school cuts will rip nearly $900 million out of our region over the next ten years, meaning our children simply won’t be given the opportunities they need to meet their full potential. Labor will invest in schools, Mr Turnbull and his Liberals will cut.”

Member for Hunter, Joel Fitzgibbon, said:

“At the next election, once again there will be a clear choice when it comes to education – invest in our children’s and nation’s future with Labor, or more of the same cuts to education under Mr Turnbull and his Liberals.”

Ensuring Australia’s workforce is ready for the jobs of the future begins in schools - Your Child. Our Future will build the education system our children, and our nation, needs for the future economy.

Malcolm Turnbull’s school cuts over 10 years