Newsroom

April 27, 2022

Turning the tide on rural communities bleeding their youths to the cities is a key focus for Katter’s Australian Party Leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter, who has committed to fast-tracking his legislative attempt to help small town families keep their kids home for longer. 

Mr Katter has today committed to introducing his Education Legislation (Remote Primary and Secondary Hybrid Schools) Amendment Bill 2022 in the next three months.

If passed Mr Katter’s bill would enable the Education Minister, after public consultation, to make arrangements on a case-by-case basis for primary schools operating in rural and remote Queensland to also deliver of schooling for students in Years 7, 8 and 9.

The expanded curricular offerings would only be available to primary schools in communities that do not have access to a local high school, of which there are about 100 across the state.

Mr Katter said the issue his legislation, which is still in its draft from, seeks to address was exacerbated by the transfer of Year 7 to secondary schooling in 2015.

“While this change might have been welcomed by some, the transfer of Year 7 to high school left many rural families whose towns only have a primary school with only one, often difficult option: to ship their kids, some as young as 11, away to boarding schools in the larger towns and cities,” he said.

“As I have travelled around my electorate of Traeger and other rural and remote parts of the State in recent years, this is an issue that has been brought up by educators and parents time and time again.

“Parents want to keep their kids in their local communities, and family homes, for as long as possible.”

Mr Katter said that while boarding school was inevitable – and certainly beneficial – for many rural kids, keeping 11-15-year-olds at home and ensuring they could continue their education was important in many situations. 

“While I don’t suggest some kids around the ages of 11-15 shouldn’t make the move to boarding school, I don’t believe this is a choice that should be made out of necessity – every child and family is different, and there should be an option there,” he said.

“I have been consulting on this issue across my own electorate most rural parents this bill would affect have been highly supportive.

“One parent in particular who I spoke to raised concerns about the vulnerability of kids who, under the current system, need to be shipped off to boarding school at the age of 11.

“It’s either that or the whole family moves, potentially ripping a significant cohort of people away from the town as well its primary school if the younger siblings are still enrolled there.

“This happening time and time again wreaks havoc on rural schools, many of which only have a small enrolment number to begin with.

“For example, when I was in Ravenswood recently, I was informed that the local school there lost five students this year as the kids transitioned form Year 6 to 7.

“This was half their school, gone.”

Mr Katter said small towns like Ravenswood, where residents were always keen to attract newcomers, faced heightened livability challenges due to the limited local educational offerings.

“For example the mine in Ravenswood, which is very prosperous, wants to attract workers and their families to live locally, but how they convince someone to move their family out there if their kids cannot attend the local school for more than a couple of years?

“If people don’t want to move to the town because of something such as this, this then means the mine isn’t employing local families, who in turn are not supporting the local economy.

“This is but another example of the State Government failing to consider the nuances of rural and remote Queensland when it comes to their policies – it can’t be one size fits all for these kinds of issues.”

Mr Katter said he welcomed feedback, and insight into the rural secondary schooling access issue, from members of the public who should send an email to traeger@parliament.qld.gov.au if they have any points they would like to raise.

A formal, state-wide consultation process will occur once the bill is introduced into the Queensland Parliament.