CORONAVIRUS —
SCHOOLS — CAMP GUIDELINES
624. Hon DONNA FARAGHER to the Minister for Education and
Training:
I refer to the answer given to
question without notice 581 asked on 11 June 2020 and the significant ongoing
concerns of recreation camp operators who are unable to open or take bookings
because they are required to operate under national guidelines relevant to
boarding schools rather than to short-term accommodation, which do not take
into account Western Australia's current situation because of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
(1) Has the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee completed
its review of the requirements for boarding facilities, residential colleges
and school camps?
(2) If yes to
(1), when is the updated advice expected to be publicly released; and, if no, when
is the AHPPC expected to consider this matter?
(3) If no to (1),
can the minister advise whether the WA Chief Health Officer can immediately
update school camp guidelines in the interim to suit Western Australia's
situation and thereby provide certainty to camp operators and principals who
are seeking to book camps for their students in term 3; and, if not, why not?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
Hon Donna Faragher and I have had
discussions behind the Chair about these ongoing issues and trying to resolve
the rules that apply to school camps.
(1)–(2) I
was advised by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet today that the
Australian Health Protection Principal Committee's review is complete.
This advice is expected to be published imminently. I had my chief of staff
check AHPPC's website this afternoon, but it has still not been
published. I am hoping that will be done today. As the member knows, I have
asked the Chief Health Officer to request that AHPPC review the requirements
for boarding facilities to make any further changes. We continue to discuss
this with both the Chief Health Officer and the independent and Catholic
education sectors. We are all eager to provide schools and camp providers with
updated advice to suit Western Australia's context as soon as we
possibly can. Honourable member, we are hoping for an overarching framework
within which each jurisdiction can make the rules to meet its particular
context. But, as with all decisions made during the pandemic, we need to ensure
that everything that we do is in line with the health advice.
(3) Not
applicable.