“Increasing the availability of boarding facilities was among the recommendations of a long-awaited report into indigenous Australian education outcomes… Two of the 20 recommendations dealt directly with FASD, calling for a consistent policy across the country for it to be recognised as a disability for school funding.”
– The West Australian
Retrieved From: https://thewest.com.au/news/the-kimberley-echo/boarding-fasd-key-to-fix-gap-ng-b88750203z
Telethon Kids Institute paediatrician James Fitzpatrick.Picture: The West Australian
Increasing the availability of boarding facilities and better policies for Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder were among the recommendations of a long-awaited report into indigenous education outcomes.
The inquiry into educational opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students had been running since the previous election and a final report was quietly tabled at the end of last year.
Federal Member for Durack and the former chairwoman of the committee which led the inquiry, Melissa Price, told the Echo she was pleased with its findings.
“We have identified some key issues that we strongly feel need to be addressed, if we are to truly start closing the gap in this area,” she said.
Ms Price said the committee recommended improving boarding facilities for regional and remote students within their own region.
“Local Aboriginal students are generally better off attending a boarding facility that is closer to home,” she said.
Ms Price said another area which needed looking into was improving the cultural awareness and understanding of teachers.
“Currently our regional teachers are often overcome with culture shock when dealing with a classroom of predominately indigenous students who don’t speak English as their first language,” she said. “Equity of funding between girls and boys (is another issue), as currently Aboriginal boys’ programs receive the lion’s share of funding.”
Two of the 20 recommendations dealt directly with FASD, calling for a consistent policy across the country for it to be recognised as a disability for school funding.
Once this is done, the committee said a FASD screening and management program should be set up in the States and Territories.
A study in the Fitzroy Valley several years ago found one in eight children born from a group of communities between 2002 and 2003 had FASD.