The ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Association wants to establish an independent service to help parents navigate the public education system. Photo: ACT Public Schools, Facebook.
The number of parents “confused, exhausted and unsure of where to turn for help” by the ACT’s public education system has sharply risen, according to the ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations.
And a plan to help has been pushed down the road by the latest ACT Budget, it says.
“What we’re seeing, in areas like inclusive education, is that the system continues to rely on individuals to get it right,” executive officer Veronica Elliot says.
“It means parents are really struggling to get a good outcome for their child.”
ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Association executive officer Veronica Elliott. Photo: ACTP&CA.
The council says as the ACT Government continues to roll out its Inclusive Education Strategy across Canberra’s public schools, some schools are making changes faster than others – “and that’s really frustrating for parents because the school next door might be delivering a better outcome than what’s happening in your child’s school”.
“In one instance, we’ve seen a parent being blamed for their child’s experiences at school,” Ms Elliot says.
“Other parents have had to take matters all the way to the Human Rights Commission to get a commonsense solution. It’s completely appalling and it has to stop.”
According to the government, the Inclusive Education Strategy aims to “deliver greater inclusion for students with disability across all ACT public schools” and “make sure schools have the support they need to meet the needs of all learners” by 2034.
Ms Elliot says the recent renewed focus on inclusive education has “potentially increased the expectations of families” who are now being overwhelmed by bureaucracy when trying to get schools to adjust their child’s teaching.
“What we know at the moment is that families find navigating the system very difficult, overwhelming, inconsistent and sometimes unresponsive. And don’t forget that some of these families are also managing, similar complicated systems like the NDIS. They’re really struggling to get a good outcome for their child.”
The council has previously criticised the ACT Education directorate for not listening to parents.
According to the directorate’s latest annual report, the feedback and complaints team had 2387 contacts with the public, including suggestions, requests for information and services, compliments and complaints.
Of these, only 143 were logged, with 38 per cent to do with student behaviour management and 18 per cent about staff behaviour.
Education minister Yvette Berry has since said addressing issues and concerns early “is an area the directorate is working to improve”.
But the council argues it needs go further. It’s lobbying for an independent parent advocacy service to be set up in the ACT, similar to the Victorian Parents Council in Victoria.
“That’s really aimed at reducing and resolving concerns early, rather than allowing them to continue and escalate and become complaints, essentially,” Ms Elliot says.
Parents would be able to go to this free service with their concerns about the school or broader education system and it would lobby the Education directorate on their behalf.
Ms Elliot says it be a relatively cheap extension of what the council is already doing and would “save the government money in the long term”.
“We already have a great understanding of how the education system works and we know that when you come into this space early in a constructive manner, these issues can be resolved,” she says.
The council estimates the cost at about $200,000 per year and claims this is less than what’s currently spent on time and resources resolving cases.
Prior to the 2024 ACT election, Ms Berry agreed to a trial of the service, which is why the association was disappointed to see no mention of it in the 2025/26 ACT Budget, handed down last month.
“We know it’s a tough budget and we don’t expect everything at once – but the reality is families are struggling now. Our community needs action, not delay.”
In response to questions by Region, the ACT Government said it remained committed to establish a parent advisory service “in the future”.
“The ACT Government is proud of the partnership it has with the ACT Council of P&Cs. They are a strong voice for public school parents in Canberra and their advice and pragmatic approach to improving public education is highly valued,” the spokesperson said.
“The government agrees with the ACT Council of P&Cs that Canberra could benefit from additional advocacy support for parents. That’s why ACT Labor committed at the election to work with P&Cs to trial a new parent advocacy service, to promote positive partnerships between parents and carers and their schools and assist in the effective resolution of issues.
“While that service was not funded through this year’s Budget, in the context of a constrained fiscal environment, the commitment remains and the government looks forward to delivering it in the future.”
