Doug PollardClem makes a start
Education Minister Martin Dixon
Last night the member for Prahran, Clem Newton-Brown, under pressure for his continued support for the rollback of religious exemptions to equal opportunity law, called on the Minister for Education Martin Dixon to continue funding the Safe Schools Coalition Really Long Link .
Clem Newton-Brown: I call on the minister to visit my electorate to talk about continuing funding. These member schools have recognised that they are not equipped to deal with the issues that can arise when the school community has to support students who are same-sex attracted or gender questioning.
The sessions run by the Safe Schools Coalition Victoria explore what makes a school safe and what difference it makes, the impact of homophobia on young people, how homophobia can be challenged in schools and classrooms and what support same-sex attracted and gender diverse students need.
A head-in-the-sand approach to these issues can have disastrous consequences. Youth suicide and self-harm are outcomes which often arise when a young, confused person is struggling with sexual identity. For these kids to be in an environment where they do not feel welcome or accepted compounds the feelings of loneliness and isolation.
I implore the minister to look at the figures on youth suicide and self-harm and to recognise that these kids struggling with sexual identity are overrepresented in these statistics. A staggering 25 per cent of 15-to-24-year-old gay and lesbian kids have suicidal thoughts, and 80 per cent of bullying behaviour of gay and lesbian kids occurs in schools.
We cannot simply ignore this fact and we as the Victorian government have a duty of care to these kids to make sure that they are safe, accepted and happy as they go through their school lives, regardless of their sexual orientation. With the Safe Schools Coalition Victoria we are currently leading the way with structured support. As a matter of urgency I seek that — —
The SPEAKER — Order! The member’s time has expired.
Martin Dixon : The member for Prahran raised with me the ongoing funding of Safe Schools Coalition Victoria and invited me to visit, with your assistance, Speaker, his electorate, which I am more than glad to do.
I say that the member for Prahran, in his short time in this place, has made his mark as a great advocate for his very diverse community and he certainly is not afraid to stand up for his community.
We will certainly be looking at future funding options for Safe Schools Coalition Victoria. The work that has been done by that group is exceptional. It is certainly doing a great job in the work it has done so far. It has broken new ground, and the member should be commended for his support of this program.
We will certainly be looking very closely at future funding of the coalition as its funding is due to run out this year. As I said, the work that has been done has been excellent.
I commend the member for raising this issue with me.
Doug says:
While this is clearly a pre-arranged love-fest between the Minister and the Member, it does get the issue on the record. However the Minister has still made no commitment beyond 'looking at' future funding for Safe Schools. The real test will come when we see just how much funding he will commit and for how long. Rob Mitchell estimates that it will take $3k per school every year to cover all 2000 schools, which is $6m per year. Let's see how much of that Dixon comes up with.
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