❓ Hon Sue Ellery questions the Minister for Education about the operational differences between the existing behaviour centres and the 13 new engagement centres, focusing on staffing, student cohort, programs, engagement length, and service delivery. The Minister outlines the expansion of services to include students with low attendance and those transitioning from detention, with operational details still being finalised based on local needs.
AnsweredQoN 674Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
EDUCATION —
ENGAGEMENT CENTRES
674. Hon SUE ELLERY to the Minister for
Education:
I note the ministerial statement the Minister for Education
made earlier today; nevertheless, I refer to the 13 new engagement centres.
What
operationally will be different from the current 12 behaviour centres,
particularly in respect to —
(a) the staffing profile;
(b) the cohort
of students;
(c) the range
of programs offered;
(d) the length
of time of engagement of students; and
(e) the
balance of in-house services offered or
(f) the
balance of outreach services offered?
ENGAGEMENT CENTRES
674. Hon SUE ELLERY to the Minister for
Education:
I note the ministerial statement the Minister for Education
made earlier today; nevertheless, I refer to the 13 new engagement centres.
What
operationally will be different from the current 12 behaviour centres,
particularly in respect to —
(a) the staffing profile;
(b) the cohort
of students;
(c) the range
of programs offered;
(d) the length
of time of engagement of students; and
(e) the
balance of in-house services offered or
(f) the
balance of outreach services offered?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for the question.
The intent of the exercise to refine or expand the behaviour
centres—I found that title a little offensive, with all due respect—into
engagement centres was to embrace more students and not necessarily equate them
with being punitive centres. They are very limited in terms of the students
they accessed, and by broadening their base we are going to open up
opportunities for more students in schools. Having said that, and as the
honourable member mentioned, I made a ministerial statement on this issue
earlier today.
(a)–(f) The
12 current behaviour centres will be replaced with 13 new engagement centres.
Of the current behaviour centres, five service primary-aged students only,
three service secondary-aged students only, and four provide a combined primary
and secondary service. The new engagement centres will all deliver a K–12
service. The engagement centres will still have a strong focus on supporting
schools to manage students with very challenging behaviour, but will expand the
work of the current behaviour centres to include working with students with
extremely low attendance and other barriers, to successfully engage them with
mainstream schooling. The new centres will form partnerships with other
services and agencies for severely at-risk children and young people and make
it easier for families to access support. In addition, the new engagement
centres will directly support students who have been excluded from their school
or who are transitioning back to school after a period in detention.
Final operational details for the
13 engagement centres are being determined with the individual centres.
Staffing profiles, programs and service delivery at each centre will be
informed by local needs and the local context. This includes the mix of
in-house and outreach services that each centre will deliver.
The intent of the exercise to refine or expand the behaviour
centres—I found that title a little offensive, with all due respect—into
engagement centres was to embrace more students and not necessarily equate them
with being punitive centres. They are very limited in terms of the students
they accessed, and by broadening their base we are going to open up
opportunities for more students in schools. Having said that, and as the
honourable member mentioned, I made a ministerial statement on this issue
earlier today.
(a)–(f) The
12 current behaviour centres will be replaced with 13 new engagement centres.
Of the current behaviour centres, five service primary-aged students only,
three service secondary-aged students only, and four provide a combined primary
and secondary service. The new engagement centres will all deliver a K–12
service. The engagement centres will still have a strong focus on supporting
schools to manage students with very challenging behaviour, but will expand the
work of the current behaviour centres to include working with students with
extremely low attendance and other barriers, to successfully engage them with
mainstream schooling. The new centres will form partnerships with other
services and agencies for severely at-risk children and young people and make
it easier for families to access support. In addition, the new engagement
centres will directly support students who have been excluded from their school
or who are transitioning back to school after a period in detention.
Final operational details for the
13 engagement centres are being determined with the individual centres.
Staffing profiles, programs and service delivery at each centre will be
informed by local needs and the local context. This includes the mix of
in-house and outreach services that each centre will deliver.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.