Committee Details

Inquiry transferred

The Education (General Provisions) (Helping Families with School Costs) Amendment Bill 2023 was introduced into the Queensland Parliament on 11 October 2023 by Dr Amy MacMahon MP, Member for South Brisbane and referred to the Education, Employment and Training Committee. On 13 February 2024, the Legislative Assembly amended Schedule 6 of the Standing Rules and Orders of the Legislative Assembly, establishing the Education, Employment, Training and Skills Committee, and transferred the Bill to the Education, Employment, Training and Skills Committee.

ABOUT THE BILL 

On 11 October 2023, Dr Amy MacMahon MP, Member for South Brisbane, introduced the Education (General Provisions) (Helping Families with School Costs) Amendment Bill 2023 into the Queensland Parliament. The Bill was referred to the Education, Employment and Training Committee for detailed consideration. 

The main objective of the Bill is to reduce the out-of-pocket expenses incurred by families whose children attend state schools by ensuring that Queensland’s state schools are fully funded. In particular, the Bill aims to reduce the out-of-pocket expenses associated with:

• extracurricular activities, such as sporting programs, musical programs and school camps
• individuals student resources, including textbooks, laptops and tablets
• school uniforms.

Another objective of the Bill is to require the chief executive of the Department of Education to report information on enrolments and costs for each state school to the relevant Minister on an annual basis.  

The Bill proposes achieving these objectives indirectly. It would do this by amending the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 to compel the relevant Minister to introduce an additional Bill that would implement the changes necessary to achieve this Bill’s goals. 

View: Bill 
View: Explanatory Notes 
View: Statement of compatibility
View: Explanatory speech 

Further information including any written briefings or advice, correspondence, the response to submissions, transcripts and answers to questions taken on notice will be made available under the Related Publications tab.

TIMELINE

A timeline for the inquiry will be available here as soon as it has been agreed by the committee. Please subscribe to receive the committee’s email updates if you wish to be notified of the call for submissions.