National school chaplaincy program given $245m in funding, despite cuts to future school spending

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Schools will lose the option of appointing secular social workers under the national school chaplaincy program, for which the Abbott government has found an extra $245m in budget funding.



While flagging big cuts to future school spending growth, the Coalition's first budget earmarks the funding over five years to continue the chaplaincy scheme originally put into place by John Howard.

But the education minister, Christopher Pyne, confirmed he would axe an option put in place by the Labor government for schools to opt for non-religious student welfare worker as an alternative to a chaplain providing “pastoral care”.

“Counsellors and social workers in schools are really the responsibility of the states and territories,” Pyne told Guardian Australia on Wednesday.

The Australian Education Union – which has long argued funds for the chaplaincy program should be redirected – described Pyne's justification as “an extraordinary comment”.

“So where does the Australian constitution say that the federal government is responsible for school chaplains,” said the federal president, Angelo Gavrielatos.

Schools can access $20,000 a year to help engage school chaplains. The former Labor government supported and extended the program but funding was due to expire at the end of 2014.

The budget papers show 3,527 schools receive support for chaplaincy or student welfare services under the existing program. The Education Department said 623 schools had engaged a student welfare worker rather than a chaplain.

The number of schools to be supported under the revamped program is expected to drop to 2,900. Budget papers flag “simplified reporting and administrative requirements to allow funding recipients to better focus on delivering chaplain services”.



The Coalition says the extension of the program fulfils an election promise. Pyne said the chaplaincy program was successful and popular in the community.

But the opposition education spokeswoman, Kate Ellis, questioned the government's priorities given it would curb school funding increases from 2018 onwards, which she said would fail to keep pace with rising education costs.

Ellis said it was wrong for the government to direct funding only to chaplains who had a “direct link to organised religion”.

“In my view it was really important that Labor expanded the program and we could see that the people who were best equipped for the job could go into the schools where they were required,” she said.

Tony Abbott and the treasurer, Joe Hockey, have been pushing the message that state and territory governments must take greater responsibility for health and education.

Changes to hospitals and schools funding would save the federal government a total of $80bn by 2024-25, a budget overview document says.

