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Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 245 asked in the Legislative Council on 17 August 2021 by Hon Wilson Tucker

Question Directed to the: Minister for Education and Training
Parliament: 41 Session: 1


Question

(1) I refer to an article published in The Sunday Times on the 15 August 2021, titled ‘Should we still keep the faith?’. The article quotes the Minister as saying ‘there is no State Government requirement for school chaplains to be of faith’. However, I note that each of the three approved providers of chaplains for public schools states explicitly on their websites that chaplains must be ‘of faith’, therefore I ask:
(a) does the Minister agree that these requirements create a de facto policy of public school chaplains being ‘of faith’; and
(b) what steps will the Minister take to correct this inconsistency between Government policy and the policy of the providers the Department engages?
(2) I refer to correspondence from the Rationalist Society of Australia (RSA) to the Department of Education, dated 20 March 2021 and 6 April 2021, in which the RSA raises their concerns over the prima facie religious conviction discrimination of the Department in the current policy of approved chaplain providers, and I ask, has the Department received this correspondence, and when can the RSA expect a response?
(3) Will the Government review it's policy, and the policy of approved chaplain providers, to allow people 'of no faith' to apply for chaplain roles in public schools:
(a) if no to (3), why not?

Answered on 14 September 2021

(1)-(3)  

There is no State Government requirement that school chaplains be of faith. 

Schools in Western Australia have the option to purchase chaplaincy services from an alternative provider and undertake an independent procurement where the buyer’s guide does not apply.