Education Department released the information after removing the option for schools to appoint a secular student welfare officer

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

The number of complaints about the national school chaplaincy program has declined over the past two years, federal Education Department figures show, amid criticism of the federal government’s decision to stop funding secular welfare officers.



About 40% of complaints were substantiated, with most relating to the performance of the chaplain or student welfare worker, or schools not clearly explaining that participation was voluntary. Concerns about chaplains preaching to students were hard to verify.

The Education Department released the figures – showing a decline in complaints from 93 in 2011 to 34 in 2013 – following a Senate estimates committee hearing that scrutinised the Abbott government’s $245m extension of the program.

Labor and Greens senators questioned the rationale behind the government’s decision to remove the option for schools to appoint a secular student welfare officer as an alternative to a chaplain under the program.

The former Labor government modified the John Howard-initiated national school chaplaincy program to allow the employment of non-religious welfare workers.

About 80%, or 2,335, of the people employed under the existing scheme were chaplains, with the remaining 583 (20%) secular, the committee heard.

Scott Ryan, the parliamentary secretary to the education minister, said student welfare was "core" business for schools and chaplains were intended to be an "important additional resource".

The Greens senator Penny Wright suggested the government's removal of the option to hire non-religious welfare officers contradicted the Coalition's professed commitment to school autonomy.

Ryan said there was "no prohibition whatsoever on employing a welfare officer" but such an employee would not be funded under the federal scheme.

"This program here is a voluntary program that provides an additional pastoral care resource in the form of a chaplain to schools," Ryan said during last week’s hearing in Canberra.

"If you have a complaint about welfare officers not being funded or supported then you should address your concerns to the previous government, because as of 31 December this year, all chaplains and welfare workers were out of a job. This government has funded the program for chaplains starting next year."

The department's secretary, Lisa Paul, said the government's intent was "to take it back to the original format, which had a religious focus".

The Labor senator Mehmet Tillem questioned the point of having a chaplaincy program rather than a student welfare scheme if workers were banned from preaching, proselytising and converting.

Ryan said the commonwealth did not want to "duplicate" or "displace" student welfare activities that each school should have in place. He had spoken to teachers who found it “particularly helpful to have a non-formal-intervention pastoral care worker that they can refer a student to”.

The Australian Education Union's federal president, Angelo Gavrielatos, said teachers needed to be able to refer students to "expert, trained professionals".

"That's what we need in our schools: trained professionals to deal with students' welfare needs and trained professionals to deal with their educational needs," he said.

The federal Education Department said the number of complaints had reduced despite the program expanding by about 1,000 schools in 2012.

The department’s associate secretary, Tony Cook, said in a written summary to the education estimates committee that two substantiated complaints in 2012 related to child safety. On both occasions the worker was immediately stood down while the matter was investigated and the department took steps to ensure mandatory reporting requirements were met.

"In the two cases the worker resigned or their employment with the funding recipient was terminated," he said.

The number of complaints about proselytising – preaching to students – declined from 34 in 2011 to five in 2012 and one last year. The department was unable to substantiate most of these concerns.

The budget earmarked $245m over five years to extend the chaplaincy program until December 2018, with schools invited to apply for grants of $20,000 a year, with an extra $4,000 available for those in remote areas.

Cook said the department was now looking to streamline some of the regulatory burden on schools and systems, for example reporting rules and the past requirement to check Catholic school systems to ensure their financial viability.

But Paul said the department would never compromise on working-with-children checks.