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Malcolm Turnbull should axe Tony Abbott's school chaplains program

Matthew Knott

He hasn't received much credit for it, but Malcolm Turnbull has been gradually killing off Tony Abbott's pet projects since he took over the prime ministership.

First he abolished knights and dames. Then he withdrew funding for a research centre headed by climate contrarian Bjorn Lomborg. In the December budget update he terminated Abbott's "Green Army" and nannies pilot program.

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The major global test of student achievement reveals just how far Australian high school students are behind their peers in the world's best performing countries.

But Turnbull has so far left one of Abbott's biggest ideological indulgences in place: the National Schools Chaplaincy Program.

Launched by John Howard in 2006 – a time when the federal budget was overflowing with cash – the program was controversial from the start, and more so once Abbott later cemented its place in schools.

Chaplains hired for the program would have to be associated with a religious organisation. Yet they would not be allowed to proselytise to students. Where exactly, many asked, does providing pastoral support end and proselytising begin? 

Furthermore, chaplains were not required to hold any minimum qualifications to be placed in schools. This raised concerns about how prepared they would be to deal with serious problems such as suicidal thoughts, anorexia or problems with drugs and alcohol. The question of how religious workers would respond to students questioning their sexuality raised particular concerns. 

Labor – to the disappointment of its non-religious supporters – backed the program in Opposition and expanded it in government. But it did improve it by requiring all new chaplains to hold a certificate IV in youth work. It also broadened the scheme so that schools could hire a secular welfare worker, rather than a chaplain, if they preferred. This option was particularly welcomed by schools in multicultural areas where the students come from many different faith backgrounds. 

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Then came Tony Abbott's infamous slash-and-burn 2014 budget, built on the premise that dramatic cuts were needed to halt a crisis in the nation's finances. The government's own commission of audit had recommended it axe the chaplaincy program on the basis state governments are responsible for schools and there was a "weak rationale" for Canberra to run such a scheme. 

Instead, Abbott found a spare $245 million to extend the program for another five years. He also scrapped the option for schools to hire a secular welfare worker.

Funding for the program is due to run out in 2018, meaning its future lies in the hands of Turnbull and his fellow moderate, Education Minister Simon Birmingham. They should use the May budget to announce they will let the scheme lapse when its funding expires or that they will refashion it into a secular program appropriate for all students and school communities.

In its current form, the scheme should go.

There's no doubt many chaplains serve a valuable role by providing guidance to students who are experiencing difficulties. School principals, stretched for cash, unsurprisingly welcome any extra support they can get. 

But such an explicitly religious program is out of step with modern Australian society. The last census showed almost a quarter of Australians have no religion, a figure that will no doubt rise when the most recent census results are released. 

If religious schools want to hire a chaplain, they are free to do so from their own budgets. Public schools, meanwhile, are secular by nature and must be open to students from all faiths or those who are non-religious. These students should be able to access guidance from a qualified counsellor or welfare worker.

In an era of deep budget deficits, the chaplaincy program has become an expense that is hard to justify. Especially when international literacy and numeracy assessments show Australian students falling behind their peers in other countries. Needy schools are crying out for more resources to teach the basics of maths and English and to support students with disabilities.  

As well as being good public policy, there's another reason for Turnbull to scrap the scheme in its current form. It would be a powerful demonstration to voters that he is in charge of the government, not the far-right of his party. 

Eric Abetz, Cory Bernardi and George Christensen would be furious and that's no bad thing politically for the centrist PM. 

These conservative MPs, all fans of small government, support cutting back government spending. And when the debate over the Safe Schools anti-homophobia program was raging, they argued there was no place for ideology in our schools. Abolishing the chaplaincy program – or refashioning it into a secular scheme – would test how committed they are to those principles.  

Matthew Knott is education correspondent. 

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