ACEA presented to the House of Representatives committee on 13 July 2021. ACEA focused its response to the Committee’s terms of reference by focusing on the education and training provision to adults and youth in custody across all Australian jurisdictions.
The full response is available on the ACEA website here.
The key messages were:
- The importance of a consistent approach across all jurisdictions to ascertain and record student literacy, numeracy, employability and digital skill levels on entry to the system and track improvement in these levels as students progress through the system to release to the community
- Establish a set of standards for the planning, implementation and evaluation of adult corrections and youth justice education programs across all Australian jurisdictions to address the disparity of approaches and metrics used in each jurisdiction.
- Support the implementation of longitudinal tracking studies to gather valid long term evidence of the social and economic of the benefits of effective education programs for those in custody or under supervision.
- Strengthen the provision of pre service training to prepare those entering or intending to enter teaching, training or supporting education program delivery in custodial settings.
- Recognise the importance of effective language, numeracy, digital skills and employability skill teaching strategies supporting the many neurodiverse adult corrections and youth justice clients