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HOME PAGE
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We bring people
together in each federal electorate (150 electorates around
Australia) to work locally in engaging our communities and our
representatives in an agenda of empowerment of ordinary people
and strengthening of civil society.
CLICK HERE to join us. |
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SELF-DIRECTED
SERVICES AND PERSONAL BUDGETS
You can take charge of your social support, education and health
care through a personal budget.
CLICK HERE
for further information. |
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AGM SEASON
Making a difference in our not-for-profits.
CLICK HERE
for further information. |
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STREET BY STREET
Linking
up people who live in the same
street or nearby to build community through practical helping
tasks - on a national scale.
CLICK HERE
for further information. |
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COMMUNITY BUILDING
NATIONAL NETWORK
CLICK HERE
to participate in the
Network. |
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LEFT AND RIGHT?
"The Left and Right have been as bad as each other. The Left has
allowed its distrust of markets and endless faith in government
to obscure the importance of civil society. The Right has been
so focused on replacing the state with markets that it has
forgotten how to cultivate a trusting society.
This is the politics of the absurd. The Left identifies with the
good society but rarely talks about the mutualism and trust
between people. The Right recognises the importance of moral
obligation but gives the impression of trusting market
transactions more than civil society.
Few things seem to happen anymore
without a government law or market transaction to guide
them. This is how record levels of GDP in Australia now sit
alongside record levels of crime, social stress and family
breakdown. The political balance needs to swing back towards
civil society.
This task, in fact, requires a new type of politics."
Mark Latham, Mutualism: A Third Way for Australia," 1999.
CLICK HERE
to read more. |
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SURVEYS |
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If you are the proprietor of
a small business, please send us your thoughts on how we can support
small businesses through our |
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SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY |
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If you
are caring for an ill or disabled family member at home, please click
here to participate in our |
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Family CarERS SURVEY |
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PARENTS AND SCHOOLS - A CALL TO
ACTION
Australian primary and
secondary schooling requires major change to empower parents and teachers, and
to meet the diverse needs of students. The old ‘public versus private’
debate has served students, parents and teachers badly. It has focused attention
on institutional arrangements on the supply-side rather than individualized
arrangements on the demand side. A revolution in our schools is needed as a
national priority.
The ownership structure of schools is less
important for parents than their ability to access individualized,
person-centred education for their children within values frameworks of their
own choosing.
Ideology is less important for conscientious
teachers than opportunities afforded for them to be the best teachers they can
be with appropriate peer and public acknowledgement.
Trade union agendas in schools are less important
for students than individualized learning agendas and continuity in personal and
social support from trusted adults.
Students have been the big losers in the false
war between equity and choice, especially those students with learning,
behavioural and social difficulties and disabilities.
The Centre for Civil Society has developed this draft Call to Action as campaign tool for parents and
teachers who want major reform in our schools.
The
draft will be
discussed at a Forum on 21 March in Melbourne.
DRAFT PARENTS AND SCHOOLS - A CALL TO ACTION
This Call to Action
is addressed to state and federal governments. As parents and teachers, we want
a revolution in our schools as a national priority.
This is our Call:
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1.
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Consolidate
all commonwealth and state school funding programs in a student-based
funding entitlement allocated to parents. This Student-Based
Funding Entitlement (SBFE)
would be a fixed dollar entitlement for every student, allocated directly
to parents, so that parents can take their child’s entitlement to a
school of their choice.
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2.
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Supplement
the Student-Based Funding Entitlement
with an additional entitlement for educational and social disadvantage (SBFE
Plus). This additional entitlement should be structured
so that schools will compete to attract students with learning and
developmental deficits and behavioural difficulties, with additional
financial incentives for achievement of performance-based outcomes with
these students.
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3.
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Require
all schools (public and private) to meet benchmarks on inclusion of
students with learning and social disadvantages in order to be eligible to
receive publicly funded entitlements. Schools which meet these benchmarks
may adopt their own fee schedules to supplement SBFE entitlements up to a
maximum fee of $12,000. Schools which do not meet these benchmarks will
not be eligible to receive public funds through SBFE
entitlements.
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4.
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Allow all
schools greater flexibility in determining curriculum, their preferred
educational and organizational philosophy, and their preferred reporting
mechanisms to parents. |
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Allow
schools in the public system to hire and fire staff as they see fit.
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6.
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Make
it easier for parent entities to establish new schools with their
preferred educational philosophies and leadership.
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7.
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Support
the establishment of a Parent School
Information Service to
provide comparative online data on schools, school performance, school
values and cultures. School co-operation with this Service will be made a
requirement for receipt of publicly funded entitlements.
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8.
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Introduce
a Lifelong Learning Account
for all students at the age of 18 with an
initial public allocation of $8,000 to be used for ongoing learning
through university, TAFE, ACFE, workplace or arts-based programs,
administered by a network of Account Holders as high-yield investment
instruments. Students, families, employers and philanthropists may make
supplementary deposits in this Account, but withdrawals may be made only
for authorized educational expenditures.
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Comments
on the draft Call to Action are welcome and should be sent to Vern Hughes by
email
or on 0425 722 890.
HOW
TO BECOME INVOLVED
We will use the Call to Action in developing a major campaign in
support of major reform in our schools in the lead up to the next federal and state elections. Fill in the online form below if you wish to be involved..
We will aim to get every MP around the country to push
for implementation of the points in this Manifesto, and we will monitor their efforts in
doing so (as well as their parties).
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Comments
on the Call to Action and the campaign are welcome and should be sent to Vern Hughes by
email
or on 0425 722 890.
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©
Centre for Civil Society 2007 |
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TRANSFORMING OUR
SCHOOLS
CLICK HERE for
details of our campaign for a Real Education Revolution.
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PARENTS FAMILIES AND
CARERS
CLICK HERE
for
info on the National
Federation of Parents, Families and Carers. |
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MAKING IT PERSONAL
Charlie Leadbeater, Jamie
Bartlett and Niamh Gallagher have authored this highly
influential Demos Report on Self-Directed Services
and Personal Budgets.
CLICK HERE
to read
Making It Personal. |
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THIRD WAY FORUM
Communitarianism,
Mutualism, Third Way Thinking
CLICK HERE
to find out more. |
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SUBSCRIBE
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email address here.
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Family Carers
There are
2.7million family carers of people with a disability, a chronic
or mental illness, or aged frailty in Australia. They are
invisible to politicians and policy makers.
Read more... |
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How to Use this Website
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If you are visiting
this website for the first time, please note that there are two
sets of links - one at the top of each page; and a second down
the left hand and right hand side columns on our various
projects.
Click on the links on the top of the page for information on the
Centre for Civil Society.
Use the
SEARCH
button to find items of interest.If you are having problems
navigating, there are additional links at the bottom of each
page. Or click here for our
PLAIN TEXT version (ideal for printing).
For those with
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click on 'Text Size' in your 'View' menu to enlarge the font..
If you need more
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WEBMASTER.
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