AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL FOR THE DEFENCE OF GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS - D.O.G.S.

PRESS RELEASE #13.

WHILE STATE AID INFORMATION IS CUT BACK:

            ENTANGLEMENT OF CHURCH WITH STATE

                   = REDUCED ACCOUNTABILITY

Accountability for State Aid to Church Schools has taken another knock on the head.

For the first time since the introduction of Federation per capita State Aid to Church schools in 1969 ( first paid in 1970) the Annual Report on the financial assistance to Church Schools has failed to list the individual schools and the amounts paid.

The latest report which relates to payments made in 1998 is a mere 25 pages. The Report for 1997 had 80 pages. The difference is in the detail about each individual private school. The reduction in pages is brought about by reporting State and Territory totals and deleting the lists of individuals schools funded in those states.

WHY THE CUT BACK IN ACCOUNTABILITY AND INFORMATION?

The cutback in accountability and information suits both the Federal Government and the Church Schools. No longer will individual private citizens and interested organisations be able to examine even in a small way whether even show piece "needy" schools are getting State Aid. The actual payments made to wealthy schools are lost in the totals?

Information supplied in past years enabled the Council for the Defence of Government Schools to expose the hypocrisy and shenanigans of the Church School interest.

Even before this happened the private Church schools interests are very happy with the accountability procedures.

We refer readers to the 1994 statement of Professor Tannock reported in "Blazing a Trail: Catholic Education in Victoria" by Anne O'Brien at page 121: The State Aid system in Australia

" ..by world standards is amazing, eighty per cent of the public funding is received with virtually no conditions"

Who is this Professor Tannock? According to WHO'S WHO in Australia 1995 he was Vice Chancellor of the University of Notre Dame ( A Roman Catholic University in W.A.) Chairman Catholic Education Commission and Director of Catholic Education W.A. 1985-1993; Chairman Commonwealth Schools Commission 1981-1985; Member of the Commonwealth Schools Commission 1974-1980;

He was in it at the beginning, distributing State Aid to Church Schools.   He was also a member of the Interim Schools Commission 1973. (Karmel Committee)

D.O.G.S. will be demanding from the Federal Government and their bureaucrats a reinstatement of not only the financial assistance to each church school but the number of pupils related to each school as was provided in the 1973 Annual Report.

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