Bilateral Agreement between 
the Australian Government and South Australia 

For National Partnership Agreements on 
•	Low Socio-economic Status 
School Communities
•	Literacy and Numeracy
•	Improving Teacher Quality

November 2009

Bilateral Agreement between the Australian Government and South Australia 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.	PURPOSE
2.	KEY REFORM AREAS AND INDICATIVE ACTIONS
Low SES School Communities (Communities Making a Difference)
Literacy and Numeracy
Improving Teacher Quality
3.	BUDGET
Facilitation Payments
Facilitation Payment Milestones
Reward Payments
Reward Payment Milestones
4.	NON-GOVERNMENT SECTOR PARTICIPATION
Facilitation payments
Co-investment
5.	INDICATIVE ACTIONS AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
6.	MONITORING AND REPORTING ARRANGEMENTS
7.	PUBLICATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS
8.	AUDIT ARRANGEMENTS
9.	GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS
Dispute resolution

1.	PURPOSE

1.1	The parties agree to cooperate in the implementation of the National Partnership Agreements agreed by all governments for operation from 1 January 2009 for Low SES School Communities, Literacy and Numeracy and Improving Teacher Quality. 

1.2	The commitment of the three South Australian schooling sectors, the Government sector as represented by the Department of Education and Children’s Services, the Independent sector as represented by the Association of Independent Schools of SA, and the Catholic sector as represented by Catholic Education South Australia, to achievement of the following five high-level outcomes is detailed in the South Australian Implementation Plans. These Plans aim to support the following:

•	All children are engaged in and benefiting from schooling
•	Young people are meeting basic literacy and numeracy standards, and overall levels of literacy and numeracy achievement are improving
•	Schooling promotes the social inclusion and reduces the educational disadvantage of children, especially Indigenous children
•	Australian students excel by international standards
•	Young people make a successful transition from school to work and further study.

1.3	South Australia’s commitment to these outcomes builds on significant investment and work over the last seven years. This includes the South Australian social inclusion initiative, with a school retention action plan, cross sectoral work for the new South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE), numerous sector specific activities, and the commitment to the achievement of State Strategic Plan targets specifically designed to improve educational outcomes, and enhance life long achievement and opportunities, for young people. 

1.4	The South Australian Strategic Plan 2007 sets explicit targets for achievement by students which aim to expand their opportunities. These are

•	T6.12 Year 3: by 2010, 93% of students in Year 3 to achieve the national benchmarks in reading, writing and numeracy
•	T6.13 Year 5: by 2010, 93% of students in Year 5 to achieve the national benchmarks in reading, writing and numeracy
•	T6.14 Year 7: by 2010, 93% of students in Year 7 to achieve the national benchmarks in reading, writing and numeracy
•	T6.15 Learning or Earning: by 2010 increase the number of 15-19 year olds engaged fulltime in school work or further education / training (or combination thereof) to 90%
•	T6.16 SACE or equivalent: increase yearly the proportion of 15-19 year olds who achieve the SACE or comparable senior secondary qualification
•	T6.17 Science and maths: by 2010 increase by 15 percent the proportion of students receiving a Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER) or equivalent with at least one of the following subjects: mathematics, physics or chemistry
•	T6.18 Aboriginal education – early years: increase yearly the proportion of Aboriginal children reading at age appropriate levels by the end of Year 1
•	T6.19 Non-school qualifications: by 2014 equal or better the national average for the proportion of the labour force with non school qualifications
•	T6.20 Higher education: increase South Australia’s proportion of higher education students to 7.5% of the national total by 2014
•	T6.21 VET participation: exceed the national average for VET participation by 2010.

1.5	These targets are integrated into the work of the Government and are supported by the work of the non-government education sectors. The government and non-government education sectors in South Australia are committed to achieving higher standards, improved accountability and better outcomes for students by implementing the reforms set out in this Agreement.

1.6	South Australia’s state wide approach is evidenced in the links between the objectives of the National Partnerships Implementation Plans and the Strategic Plans for each schooling sector.

1.7	The Plans will be living documents that reflect the need for agreed changes to be made as implementation proceeds. Further changes will be agreed between the parties.

1.8	Amendments to any or all of the Implementation Plans to accommodate emerging issues can be requested by South Australia at any time. These amendments will be agreed with the Australian Government and the participating sectors.

1.9	This Agreement has three attachments, a Summary Plan for public information (Attachment 1), a list of participating schools (Attachment 2), and detailed implementation plans for administrative purposes (Attachment 3).

2.	KEY REFORM AREAS AND INDICATIVE ACTIONS

2.1	The Plans address the priority areas for the National Partnerships through identified State and sector priorities for reform initiatives.  The Plans acknowledge and build on effective collaborative partnerships, include whole-of-state initiatives and sector specific initiatives, and respect the diverse context of the three participating school sectors and their communities.  The Plans include reform strategies that have state-wide application, with capacity for diversity in implementation, and initiatives that respond to sector specific needs. In addition the Plans identify opportunities for national collaboration.

2.2	These Plans acknowledge that identifying and building on current good practice at state, sector and school levels, and rich evidence about what makes good teaching and learning are essential elements.  Focusing on student needs, through customised individual support and effective community partnerships, will be fundamental to the success of the Partnerships. 

2.3	Australian Government funding, together with State co-investment, will support implementation, monitoring, reporting and agreed evaluation of these reforms.

2.4	The Australian Government and the State of South Australia will undertake the roles and responsibilities outlined in the three National Partnership Agreements.

2.5	In addition, the Australian Government and South Australia will share responsibility for:
•	Contributing to the development and delivery of the joint national elements of any reforms
•	Monitoring achievements against the Implementation Plans and providing information to the COAG Reform Council 
•	Facilitating the sharing of best-practice case studies, materials and resources.

Low SES School Communities (Communities Making a Difference) 

2.6	The Plan addresses all six areas identified in the Partnership Agreement for Low SES School Communities, and focuses on improving outcomes for disadvantaged students by building on and developing effective community partnerships that provide ‘wrap around’ support for the student in a flexible, tailored, individual approach.  In addition participating schools will be supported to deliver flexible services through investment in quality teaching and building leadership capacity with a clear, focused school improvement strategy.

2.7	All participating schools will undertake a diagnostic assessment process to assist in the development of whole of school plans as defined in the National Partnership Agreement.  A list of participating schools and the methodology for school selection and phasing of school engagement for all sectors is included in the Plan.  The governance structure of Independent schools means ongoing consultation with schools, and resolution of funding and accountability requirements is required to finalise participating Independent schools. Final participating schools will be identified annually when the sectors have completed negotiations with schools.

2.8	The key reform priorities for South Australia are:
•	Building on and developing effective school and community partnerships
•	Providing a range of inclusive, customised and effective approaches to engage students in learning
•	Giving low SES schools greater flexibility and the means to provide high quality teaching and leadership
•	Providing a case management ‘wrap around’ approach for disengaged and at-risk students
•	Development of an on-going sustainable school improvement culture. This underpins the Federal Minister’s drive for reform.
2.9	A list of participating schools is at Attachment 2. 

Literacy and Numeracy

2.10	South Australia’s Literacy and Numeracy Plan aims to:
•	Deliver sustained improvements in literacy and numeracy outcomes for students in participating schools, with a priority focus on those falling behind and in most need of support; primary students; Indigenous students; students with refugee experiences; and students at risk of poor transition to secondary schooling and beyond 
•	Implement evidence-based initiatives / strategies and interventions which achieve accelerated and sustained improvements in literacy and numeracy outcomes for students
•	Contribute to national understanding of the most effective pedagogies for the teaching and learning of literacy and numeracy
•	Develop the capacity of teachers, including pedagogical and content knowledge and skills, to teach numeracy and literacy, consistent with recommendations of the National Numeracy Review Report, May 2008 and the State Improving Quality Teacher National Partnership Implementation Plan.
•	Contribute to the overall improvement in literacy and numeracy standards across school education.
2.11	It does this through seven main strategies:
•	Leading whole school planning in Literacy & Numeracy - Supporting schools to implement whole of school planning for literacy and numeracy improvement 
•	Expert Literacy and Numeracy Teachers – A range of approaches  leading to improved teacher knowledge and pedagogies within the school contexts, improved access to resources,  understanding and using data, and  facilitating sharing of experiences and resources across regions, clusters and/or within schools
•	Professional Learning for Teachers – Supporting training and development for specialist teachers and coaches; professional learning in specific programs; teacher competency in using tools for data analysis and tracking progress over time; and sharing of outcomes 
•	Case Management Model - Interventions in literacy and numeracy learning for individual students, including students of diverse backgrounds
•	Parental awareness programs - Strategies that lead to parent awareness of literacy programs and learning culture of the school; parent programs which inform and involve the parent community in supporting children’s learning
•	Program Coordination - Coordinating the National Partnerships at state, sector and school levels to meet National Partnerships reform objectives and accountability requirements 
•	Sharing Best Practices - A comprehensive professional learning strategy across the state.

2.12	Each sector will undertake a consultative process with selected schools. The selection process for schools is detailed in the Plan. 

Improving Teacher Quality 

2.13	South Australia’s Improving Teacher Quality Plan aims to:
•	Deliver sustained improvements in the quality of teaching and leadership in South Australian schools, with a particular focus on professional development opportunities for principals / leaders and teachers, to maintain a quality teaching workforce
•	Work towards achieving improvement in high-level outcomes for schooling agreed by COAG and in the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians 
•	Contribute to the achievement of sustained improvements in educational outcomes that align with those in the National Education Agreement 
•	Support innovation and reform, and foster dissemination of best practices  
•	Contribute to COAG’s agenda relating to social inclusion and Indigenous disadvantage. 
2.14	South Australia’s Improving Teacher Quality National Partnerships Implementation Plan will focus on:
•	A range of new and expanded programs to extend the skills of experienced principals, new principals, deputy and aspiring principals
•	New and improved pathways into teaching through greater collaboration with universities 
•	Scholarship incentives and other programs to attract and retain beginning teachers
•	Pilot programs to attract, recruit and train mathematics and science teachers
•	Enhanced Indigenous education pathways, through strategies such as scholarships, employment guarantees and other support programs 
•	Consideration of new national professional standards for teachers and implementation where agreed by sectors and schools
•	Joint engagement with higher education providers to provide quality trainee teacher placements (practicum)
•	Consideration for implementation of recommendations from national working groups such as the Teacher Quality Steering Committee
•	A review of rewards and recognition for quality classroom teachers, with a particular focus on the Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) classification
•	Improved mobility of the teaching force, including piloting a country scholarship scheme
•	Improved quality and scope of workforce data 
•	Improved performance management and continuous improvement in schools, through a range of professional development programs and accountability models relevant to the sectors, and with links to the low SES Pilot (PALL).

3.	BUDGET
Facilitation Payments
3.1	Facilitation payments sought from the Australian Government are based on the implementation of the initiatives in the Preliminary Plans.

3.2	This section sets out the Australian Government facilitation payments and State co‑investments to be made in support of these reforms.  For multi-year reform agendas, a series of Australian Government facilitation payments and State co-investments is specified.

Table 1: Facilitation Payments  

Note:  
1.	Funding is GST Exclusive

Facilitation Payment Milestones

3.3	Milestones to be covered in the Milestone progress reports are set out in the appendices of the Plans, Appendix 7 for Low SES, Appendix 11 for Literacy and Numeracy, and Appendix 1 for Improving Teacher Quality. 

3.4	South Australia is seeking the full amount of the Facilitation Funds for each National Partnership as outlined in the Bilateral Agreement for each financial year. Facilitation funds will be vital in supporting each of the sectors to initiate and maintain the activities outlined in this Plan. In particular, the facilitation funds will allow sectors and schools to meet the financial commitment associated with the significant staffing initiatives and program costs.

3.5	In meeting the milestones required for future payments for facilitation funds the Plan for each Partnership includes an indicative level of activity by strategy by year. The quantified milestones are not targets, they are indicators of the estimated level of activity and progress that is anticipated under the plans. For example in the Low SES Partnership estimated numbers are based on projections of student need, the number of case managed students, and the number of students mentored. The actual numbers may vary due to the individualised nature of support provided, and hence projected numbers accessing a particular service/support are indicative.  The review of achievement of milestones must be considered in this context.

3.6	The information provided in the Plans gives the anticipated depth and scope of the strategies and interventions. Given that the scope of this activity is supported by the National Partnerships facilitation funding and co-investment then the operational experience may mean that Plans are significantly revised over their lifetime.

Table 2: Facilitation and Notional Reward Payments by Milestones ($m)  

Notes: 	
1.	Funding is GST exclusive
2.	Actual reward allocation to States /Territories is subject to review before the end of 2010
3.	Milestones reports cover relevant milestones as detailed in the plans.
Reward Payments
3.7	South Australia seeks maximum reward funding, subject to the achievement of agreed reward milestones as set out in the plans for Literacy and Numeracy and Improving Teacher Quality. For Improving Teacher Quality some strategies which will attract rewards payments are planned to commence early in the Partnership. Undertaking the full suite of planned reward reforms is however dependent on the state achieving the full quantum of rewards payments in 2011.

3.8	South Australia will agree the distribution of reward funding with participating sectors and any reward funding received will be applied to the education sector.

Table 3: Australian Government Notional Reward Payments 

Notes: 
1.	Funding is GST exclusive
2.	Actual reward allocation to States /Territories is subject to review before the end of 2010.
Reward Payment Milestones
3.9	Reward payments are set out in Table 3 above. Performance measures included in milestones for rewards are detailed in Appendix 12 for Literacy and Numeracy and Table 2 for Improving Teacher Quality. 
3.10	South Australia seeks maximum reward funding, subject to achievement of the agreed reward milestones and is committed to demonstrating significant ongoing progress in relation to all reforms.

4.	NON-GOVERNMENT SECTOR PARTICIPATION
4.1	A Ministerial Advisory Committee comprising representatives of the three schooling sectors, the South Australian National Partnerships Council – Schooling, has been established to advise the Minister for Education in carrying out the State’s responsibilities under the three Smarter Schools National Partnership Agreements, and to ensure appropriate consultation and communication with relevant stakeholders. The Council is chaired by the Hon Greg Crafter as an independent Chair.

4.2	This Council advises the Minister on: 

•	The allocation of funds to each sector
•	A framework of accountability for managing dispersal of funds, their acquittal and monitoring and reporting requirements
•	The identification of co-investment requirements by sector
•	Development of potential cross sector initiatives for the Plans
•	Sector specific proposals for the Plans
•	Opportunities for sharing information and evidence
•	Performance against agreed milestones and performance indicators.

4.3	The Council is supported by a Secretariat representing all schooling sectors, with cross sector working groups supporting the development and implementation of the Plans, and co-ordinating communications from the Council, and state reporting, monitoring and evaluation.

 Facilitation payments

4.4	The sectors will implement the Plans and have an agreed methodology for the distribution of facilitation funds to each sector. The methodology for distribution of facilitation funding is based on the methodology developed by the Australian Government in collaboration with the jurisdictions to create a proportional split of funding by sector. Each Partnership uses a different funding methodology as follows:

•	Improving Teacher Quality funding is split by proportional share of Teacher Full Time Equivalents between sectors
•	Literacy and Numeracy funding is split by proportional sector share of students using student count by results, double counting for those at or below the national minimum standard  for literacy (reading)  and numeracy 
•	Low SES School Communities funding is based on student numbers allocated to schools and using the national index of disadvantage and weighting for remote locations and low SES communities. This has resulted in a list of low SES schools as identified by student numbers. SA will work with at least 160 low SES schools over the seven years of the partnership. 
4.5	Where funds are required to pursue cross-sectoral reforms, which are either specific to individual National Partnerships or apply across the three Smarter Schools National Partnerships, it is proposed that this amount will be deducted on an agreed basis from the notional sector funding shares.

4.6	Agreed facilitation funding allocations for each sector in South Australia for each National Partnership are shown in Table 4. 

Table 4 Sector Facilitation Funding Allocation

Note:
1.	Funding is GST exclusive

Co-investment
4.7	Each sector will contribute at a minimum, co-investment proportional to its share of the facilitation funding as per Table 5 below. 

Table 5: Summary of Co-investment Commitment by Sectors 

4.8	The South Australian approach to co-investment is set out in Section 1 of the detailed Plans.

5.	INDICATIVE ACTIONS AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

5.1	The Plans will contribute towards the attainment of the outcomes specified in the multilateral National Partnership Agreements (refer to Schedule A of each of the National Partnership Agreements).

5.2	Specific performance indicators and the necessary measure/s are set out in the Plans. In developing the performance indicators and measures, South Australia gave consideration to the following:
•	The adoption of a general principle that the collection and reporting of measures should not impose additional burdens on schools 
•	How performance measures can identify improvement, particularly in literacy and numeracy, when there is only a short period of time between implementation of programs and assessment of benefit. This is of particular concern for programs where the outcome is a measure of student performance
•	Whether comparable cross sectoral data will be available.

6.	MONITORING AND REPORTING ARRANGEMENTS

6.1	South Australia will provide reports to the Australian Government that summarise progress against the agreed reform milestones and timelines as set out in each Plan and the COAG Reform Council for rewards payments.  Summaries of the South Australian reports will be published. 

6.2	Monitoring and reporting arrangements will reflect the requirements of Schedule C to the Intergovernmental Agreement on Federal Financial Relations. 

6.3	An ongoing reporting timeline for the implementation of the agreed reform agendas is set out in Table 6.

Table 6: Reporting Schedule

6.4	South Australia will monitor and report against each of the following:
•	Agreed reforms as listed in each Plan. This will form the basis for South Australian monitoring and reporting on the progress of the National Partnerships.
•	South Australia will monitor and report against progress in implementing the agreed reforms in the Plans on a calendar year basis, in line with clause c11 in Schedule C to the Intergovernmental Agreement on Federal Financial Relations. In addition South Australia will also submit interim progress milestone reports to trigger facilitation payments.
•	Facilitation and Reward Milestones which indicate how South Australia is progressing in implementing the Plans.  Progress made against each of these milestones will be reported on as an indication of the overall achievement of planned activity and the agreed reforms. 
•	South Australia will monitor and report progress against these milestones according to the timelines set out in the Plans and this Agreement.
•	Co-investment as stated in Attachment 3, Section 1, of the Plan 
•	South Australia will report on co-investment as required.

6.5	Schools participating in National Partnerships under this Bilateral Agreement will report on progress in reports consistent with existing sector accountability arrangements. As part of the engagement of schools, specific performance information to monitor progress in reform areas will be identified for inclusion in their reports. 

6.6	South Australia will meet the requirements of the MCEETYA Measurement Framework for National Key Performance Measures, which sets out the basis for reporting progress towards the achievement of the National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century and the new Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, signed in December 2008.

6.7	South Australia notes that where agreed performance indicators under this and the National Partnerships Agreements contribute to the objectives and outcomes of the National Education Agreement, the COAG Reform Council will assess these performance indicators in the context of its analysis and report on the National Education Agreement and its subsidiary National Partnership Agreements. 

6.8	State’s summary reports will also be published to facilitate the sharing of information regarding successful reform interventions and best practice to the Commonwealth, other States and Territories and schools. 

6.9	As specified in the National Partnership Agreements, the Australian Government will provide funding to evaluate the progress of reforms through this Agreement. The evaluation will support program management and monitoring and continuous improvement efforts and will inform COAG on the success of the reforms and how best to sustain them. South Australia will also evaluate the National Partnerships at a state level.

6.10	Where individual school data is provided, and the National Partnership Agreements do not provide for that level of analysis to be published, standard privacy principles and procedures will prevail.

7.	PUBLICATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS

7.1	South Australia will acknowledge the Bilateral Agreement as a joint Australian Government and State or Territory initiative in all publications, promotional and advertising materials, public announcements and activities, or any products, processes or initiatives developed as a result of the implementation of the Bilateral Agreement according to the Smarter Schools Branding Guidelines.

7.2	A communication and stakeholder engagement strategy has been developed jointly by the three sectors to support the implementation. The strategy recognises and builds on the existing structures and processes within each sector and complements any Australian Government communications. This strategy will assist in gaining school community and business support for the Partnerships. In addition, each sector will develop a communications strategy consistent with the State engagement strategy. The South Australian strategic approach is summarised in Section 1 of Attachment 3.

8.	 AUDIT ARRANGEMENTS

8.1	South Australia will comply with relevant legislation and Schedule C to The Intergovernmental Agreement on Federal Financial Relations. Appropriate auditing arrangements will be put in place that takes account of any relevant instructions from State and Federal Treasury.  

9.	GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS
9.1	The governance arrangements for this Agreement will be managed in accordance with the National Partnerships Agreements between the Australian Government and South Australia.

9.2	The Bilateral Agreement implementation in South Australia will be overseen by a Ministerial Advisory Council reporting to the Minister for Education. The Council is chaired by an independent Chair, the Hon Greg Crafter. Its membership includes the three sector heads: the Chief Executive of the Department of Education and Children’s Services, the Executive Director of the Association for Independent Schools of SA, and the Director of Catholic Education SA. It meets regularly and is also attended by the South Australian State Manager of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, and representatives from the Departments of Premier and Cabinet, and Treasury and Finance.

9.3	A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been developed between the three South Australian schooling sectors to facilitate collaboration between the three schooling sectors for the development and implementation of the three Smarter Schools National Partnerships to achieve the goals of these National Partnership Agreements. The MOU acknowledges the different governance and management approaches that operate in each school sector. This MOU will be reviewed annually.

9.4	A Secretariat supports the Council and assists in coordinating and delivering centrally driven strategies, state level performance monitoring, reporting and evaluation. This work involves the creation of cross sector working groups as necessary.

Dispute resolution

9.5	Any party to this Agreement may give notice to the other party of a dispute.

9.6	Any disputes arising from the Agreement between the three sectors will be dealt with in the first instance by the Ministerial Advisory Council.

9.7	Any disputes between the State and the Australian Government in regard to this Agreement will be dealt with in the first instance by the Chief Executive of Department of Education and Children’s Services and an appropriate Australian Government Officer.

9.8	If the dispute can not be resolved then it will be referred to the appropriate Minister(s).

The Parties have executed this Agreement as follows:

Signed for and on behalf of the
Commonwealth of Australia by

…………………………………………….
	
The Honourable Julia Gillard MP
Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations

Date:

			
Signed for and on behalf of the
State of South Australia by

……………………………………………	

The Honourable Jane Lomax-Smith MP
Minister for Education 

Date: