How to make a submission to the inquiry committee

Submissions to Committee Inquiring into Ethics Classes – deadline now set for 24th February 2012

On Friday 11th November, less than a year after legislation was passed to allow ethics classes as an option for children not attending SRE, the NSW government was persuaded by Fred Nile of the Christian Democratic Party to establish a committee to investigate the classes. The committee will conduct a formal inquiry to examine “ the stated objectives, curriculum, implementation, effectiveness and other related matters pertaining to the current operation of ‘special education in ethics’ being conducted in State schools, and whether the Education Amendment (Ethics) Act 2010 should be repealed.”

Fred Nile has stated proudly that ''this will be the first time there has been a formal investigation into the ethics classes'' yet the classes were evaluated formally only last year when they were trialed, and have only been running for a year.

SRE classes have been running since the 19th century with no formal investigation.

What can be done?

It is important the Committee understands public opinion on this issue and will accept submissions from individuals and groups.

Individual Submissions

If writing an individual submission, please consider the following points:

• while scrutiny of ethics classes is welcome we call for a parallel investigation of SRE
• If the Education Amendment (Ethics) Act 2010 were repealed, there would no longer be a legal requirement to offer ethics classes as an option for children not attending SRE classes. This move could returns to a situation in which children opting out of SRE are given nothing meaningful to do. Your submission should point out that such a situation would discriminate against those children and would be entirely unacceptable to thousands of parents, children and other members of the NSW community.
• In addition to the above points, your submission should reflect your own experiences and opinions. In particular, outline your own experience of ethics or SRE classes (e.g. as a parent, an ethics class teacher, a school Principal, or simply as a member of the community). This should include facts that are known to you and/or more widely known that are relevant to the current investigation, in addition to your own perspective, experiences and opinion.

P&C Submissions

Please consider proposing a motion that your school’s P&C makes a submission to the Committee.

The deadline for submissions is 24th February 2012. This deadline was released at a time when schools are closing for summer, and means that most P&Cs will not have the opportunity to discuss this motion at a scheduled meeting. Some P&Cs may want to hold an extraordinary meeting to consider this motion so that a submission can be made in time.

The P&C submission should provide the committee members with facts known to your school that are relevant to the inquiry (e.g. the level of support for ethics classes at your school as indicated by children opting for the classes, and/or support expressed by the P&C). The committee report, expected to be released in June 2012, is likely to refer to such facts and information. In addition, the submission should include views from your school’s P&C, telling the committee how your school community feels about this issue. The submission can include facts and opinions as indicated above, as well as recommendations for action.

How to Submit

A submission from a group such as a P&C should state who authorized it (e.g. the president), preferably be on letterhead (or at least include the school logo), include the school’s details and P&C contact person’s details. All submissions should include the sender’s name, address and telephone number. The preferred format is as a letter in Word or pdf attached to an email and sent to: gpscno2@parliament.nsw.gov.au or submitted via the online portal at: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/submissions.nsf/Submission?OpenForm&ParentUNID=A929FF1656683C39CA257951001452AF&House=LC.
(We would appreciate it if you would send a copy of your submission to contact@parents4ethics.org)

The addressee of the letter is:
The Director
General Purpose Standing Committee No. 2
Parliament House
Macquarie St
Sydney NSW 2000

For more detailed information on making a submission:
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/common.nsf/key/CommitteesLCSubmissionsHowToGuides/$file/Making+a+submission+brochure.pdf