At the 18th meeting of MCEETYA (12th—13th May 2005), Council urged the Australian Government to:
a) increase per capita assistance to ESL - NA students with high educational needs, in particular, refugees and humanitarian entrants;
b) provide a new per capita allocation so that specific ethnic and cultural issues faced by those children and families entering into Australia under the Refugee and Humanitarian Category can be addressed; and
c) expand the visa classifications eligible for New Arrivals Funding;
Ministers Nelson and Hardgrave noted the points raised but indicated that a more evidence-based discussion of the issue was warranted to justify any Australian Government increase in funding.
The MCEETYA Schools Resourcing Taskforce (SRT) convened a working party of Australian Government, Victorian Government and Catholic Education Commission representatives to work with the SRT Secretariat to further investigate this issue.
The attached report surveyed all government school systems in Australia (except the Northern Territory) and the two largest Catholic dioceses nationally to identify:
a) the current, actual expenditure made by systems in providing tuition in English as a second language (ESL) for newly arrived students (ESL-NA students); and
b) the expenditure required to meet adequate language acquisition in the delivery of ESL services to newly arrived students.
MCEETYA endorsed the report in July 2006.
The Australian Government has expressed reservations about the methodology and some conclusions drawn in this report.
