Yvette Berry on compliance issues at Brindabella Christian School

The Canberra Times

ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry speaks about the government's response to ongoing compliance problems at Brindabella Christian College on June 14, 2024

Transcript

00:00 So, Perindybala Christian College has repeatedly been non-compliant with conditions, post-moderates

00:05 approval, hasn't paid staff superannuation time. What are you planning to do about this situation?

00:10 So, the government has a non-government schools regulator now and we've made some changes to the

00:15 Education Act to put in those regulations so that independent schools are then having to comply in

00:22 different ways and have more regulatory meetings with the Education Directorate through the regulator.

00:28 I know that the Commonwealth Government has also been looking at what's been happening with

00:33 Perindybala Christian College and are paying close attention to some of the issues that have been

00:37 raised which we know about. The Education Act requires that non-government schools comply

00:44 with various legislation including with the Tax Office, Government and other legislation.

00:50 The independent schools regulator is meeting with and working with Perindybala Christian College

00:56 to get them to comply. The last thing we want to see is a school closed. We want to try and

01:03 keep the school open and operating in the best possible way and so that's why we're continuing

01:08 to work with them. That doesn't mean that at some point in the future we might have to put in some

01:13 more regulations for that particular school around their compliance but we're just continuing to work

01:19 with them about what that might look like. Does the Registrar have the power to remove the current

01:23 proprietors of the school? Look I'll have to get some advice on that. It's more about making sure

01:29 that they apply with the regulations that apply to that particular school so we can increase

01:36 regulatory powers on the school through the independent school regulator.

01:41 At the moment I understand there are some matters that are happening in the Supreme Court so I

01:49 wouldn't want to talk too much about some of the issues that have been raised there

01:52 but understand the community's frustration particularly with Perindybala Christian

01:56 College school parents and families frustration with the operation of the school currently

02:03 but I guess my message to them would be that the independent schools regulator is

02:07 working very closely on this matter as I understand the Commonwealth Government.

02:12 The school has spent more than a hundred thousand dollars on a robotic dog. Do you

02:17 think that's a good use of the school's resources considering it still has a large

02:21 tax debt to repay? Look I'm not going to comment on those kinds of matters. I'm not the regulator

02:27 but I am paying attention to what's happening at the school and as I said so is the independent

02:32 school regulator within the ACT and the Commonwealth Government. I mean the Commonwealth

02:37 Government has indicated they've only got two options left which is ceasing or pausing funding.

02:42 What's going to happen to the staff and over a thousand students if this happens?

02:46 And that's the reason why we're wanting to keep this school operating wherever we possibly can.

02:51 Because at the end of the day we want students to continue to get an education and we want teachers

02:56 and school staff to be supported to be able to deliver that. So we're looking carefully and

03:01 working very carefully with the Perindybala Christian College management team and the CEO

03:06 to get things working better. At the same time trying to provide assurances to the school

03:12 community that we're doing everything we can within our powers and the Commonwealth Government

03:16 are as well stepping through the different parts of the issues that we're raising to make sure that

03:22 we're covering off everything before we get to a point to making that decision. That is the last

03:29 option for us and we want to try and avoid that if we can. But is there a threshold where you

03:34 will have to resort to desegregating the school? Look this is an unusual situation so it's unique

03:42 and we want to make sure that we get it right and that's why we've changed the legislation to

03:46 include a non-government school regulator and more regulation on independent schools,

03:50 more visits to understand regulation being complied with. We'll continue to do that.

03:57 If we need to do more then we will but at the moment we're just working through the steps as

04:02 we see them and also working with the Commonwealth Government about what their responses should be

04:07 to this circumstance.

04:09 you

04:10 you

04:10 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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