Choice and Fairness: Introducing a Common Framework for all Australian Schools  - Australian Communities Foundation

When our education institutions are properly resourced and regulated, they can support students from all walks of life to reach their potential.

Yet, growing disadvantage and declining achievement are the results of the way Australia currently resources and regulates our schools. The reality is that our hybrid public/private framework is not fit for purpose. It is unlike any other framework in the world. We won’t solve Australia’s declining education performance and equity if we don’t first put in place a new equitable framework for how we fund and regulate our schools.

A common framework for all Australian schools is needed to increase equity and achievement for young people. The Koshland Innovation Fund founded the Australian Learning Lecture (ALL), a ten-year initiative designed to bring big ideas and new approaches in education to national attention. The ALL has recently launched Choice and Fairness: A Common Framework for all Australian Schools which calls for a new conversation about Australian education. The ALL has also developed a proposal which prioritises a new equitable framework for how we fund and regulate our schools.  

Join us at our next Learning Circle, hosted in partnership with the Koshland Innovation Fund, to learn about:

• The current landscape of education in Australia and the need for a common framework for all Australian schools  
• The Choice and Fairness: A Common Framework for all Australian Schools proposal and how it is possible to provide choice and diversity of schools to parents and students while limiting segregation and maximising equity and effectiveness 
• The powerful role philanthropy can play in supporting the mobilisation of a wide network of people and organisations pressing for change.  

We'll be joined by Ellen Koshland (Founder and Director, Australian Learning Lecture) and Tom Greenwell (Author, Waiting for Gonski: How Australia Failed Its Schools).

Please note: This event will take place online via Zoom and in person at our Community of Giving, 6/126 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne, 3002 at 12pm AEST on 24 August.

Speakers

Ellen Koshland, Founder and Director, Australian Learning Lecture

Ellen Koshland has worked for over three decades to contribute to quality education for all Australians. She has been instrumental in establishing many initiatives including, Education Foundation and the Global Education Leaders Partnership - a powerful alliance of global education leaders who seek to transform education. Ellen was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll for Women and received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from Swinburne University in 2018. She is also a founding donor of the Stella Prize.

Tom Greenwell, Author, Waiting for Gonski: How Australia Failed Its Schools

Tom is co-author with Chris Bonnor of Waiting for Gonski: How Australia Failed Its Schools (UNSW Press 2022). He writes about Australian education policy for Inside Story and The Canberra Times and teaches history and politics in the ACT public education system. He previously worked as a research officer for the Australian Education Union.