Here’s all the ways that SSASA have been advocating for small schools during July, August and September 2026
Lyndsey reviewed the Education and Children’s Services (Misc) Amendment Bill and submitted an official SSASA response.
This response has been emailed to all Exec Members
Summary: SSASA supports the intent of the Education and Children’s Services (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill 2026, particularly its aims to improve access to OSHC, reduce costs for families and encourage greater community use of public school facilities. However, reforms that appear straightforward at a system level can create significant workload, costs and risks for small schools, especially those led by sole or teaching principals with little administrative or leadership support. SSASA’s position is that any new responsibilities must be accompanied by clear authority, adequate funding, central departmental support and genuine principal discretion. Schools must be able to decline or restrict community access where there are reasonable educational, operational, child-safety, security, infrastructure or financial concerns.
SSASA also recommends that the Department retain clear responsibility for OSHC operations, staffing, compliance, finances and serious incidents, rather than transferring these obligations to principals or governing councils. Schools should be fully funded for any costs associated with OSHC and community facility use, while replacement funding for Materials and Services charges must be permanent, transparent and appropriately indexed. Implementation should be co-designed and tested in small, rural, regional, remote and sole-leader settings, with the cumulative workload and wellbeing impacts on principals carefully assessed. A formal review should occur after two years, with SSASA involved. The central message is that small schools do not have smaller responsibilities—they simply have fewer people available to carry them.
The Joint Associations Committee (JAC) progressed several areas of shared advocacy and policy work during July, August and September 2026. Key actions included:
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Finalising the joint Inclusive Education Support Program (IESP) paper, including concerns about unfilled student support positions and the “harvesting” of unused salaries. Association boards were asked to provide feedback before the paper was submitted to the Department for Education.
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Developing a joint response to the Education and Early Childhood Services Act Review. Lyndsey Martin agreed to draft the position statement, drawing together the aligned concerns of all associations, including regulatory duplication, increased leadership workload, psychosocial risks, inadequate sector representation and the lack of a clear rationale for the proposed changes.
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Providing collective feedback to Minister Lucy Hood and the Department on promoting public education. JAC emphasised the importance of local school stories, case studies, clearer promotion of public education’s quality and values, and departmental support for schools’ marketing efforts.
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Continuing advocacy regarding the increasing training and compliance expectations placed on governing council members, with further discussions planned with Caroline Fishpool.
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Seeking further information about the Department’s Resilience Framework and maintaining engagement with Incident Management leaders about critical incident responses, the rollout of Incident 360 and the distinction between violence and student dysregulation.
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Raising country education concerns, including equitable access to professional learning and leadership development, teacher and early childhood worker housing, workforce recruitment, relief staffing, country student opportunities and stronger engagement with country special schools.
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Raising member concerns about procurement requirements and requesting improved distribution lists and communication channels for preschools and school-based preschools.
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Identifying additional issues for future advocacy, including alternative education, the reduction of special education content in university teaching courses, changes to literacy and numeracy testing requirements, and equitable bus policies.
