Mr GREG WARREN (Campbelltown) (12:45): My question is addressed to the Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education, representing the Minister for Education and Early Learning. Will the Minister update the House on the Minns Labor Government's work to ensure every student across New South Wales can learn in a safe and supportive school environment?

Mr STEVE WHAN (Monaro—Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education) (12:45): I thank the member for Campbelltown and Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Early Learning for his question and strong interest in this area. We must never accept bullying in our schools. The damage it causes to students is real. Their education and wellbeing suffers. In too many cases, that has tragic and heartbreaking consequences. We should never accept bullying as a part of the school experience. Every student deserves to feel safe and supported at school. It is the Government's responsibility to ensure that is the case. Since day one the Minns Labor Government has acted. Through the leadership of the Premier and Deputy Premier, we banned mobile phones in all New South Wales public schools. That was opposed by some in the Opposition. The member for Hawkesbury even called it communism. But to be fair, many on the other side of House would now concede that their position was wrong.

Our Government listened to the overwhelming voices of parents and teachers. As a result, we are seeing better outcomes. Some 86 per cent of principals report that socialising among students has improved. They are actually talking and playing with each other. Some 81 per cent of principals said students learning has improved. However, we need to stress this is not just a public school and a New South Wales issue. It is an issue that we need to confront in all schools. That is why we are working closely with our colleagues in the Catholic and independent school sectors as well as the Australian Government to develop evidence-based policies and approaches. We saw that cooperation on Friday at the Education Ministers Meeting, where acting Minister Courtney Houssos was able to share the nation-leading work that we are doing in New South Wales. We want a situation where all parents can have certainty that no matter what school their child attends, that school will have robust anti-bullying policies in place to keep them safe.

Earlier this year our Government tasked the head of the NSW Education Standards Authority to get all sectors together to work on a plan to lift behaviour and address bullying, and to develop a cross‑sectoral framework to prevent and respond to bullying and cyberbullying in New South Wales schools. We want all schools to have access to consistent best practice anti-bullying tools and resources. We want to set uniform expectations around how schools should respond to bullying and what steps they should take. It is something that has not happened before in New South Wales, and that work is now nearing completion. We believe this anti‑bullying framework will be a significant step forward in combating bullying across all schools. In the area of suspensions, we built on the work already done in addressing behaviour. We have put in place stronger behaviour and suspensions policies in New South Wales schools. They replace what was, frankly, a disastrous and unworkable policy put in place by the former Government, which disempowered principals and stripped them of the authority to suspend students and manage misbehaviour. [Extension of time]

Under our policies, teachers are now empowered and equipped to deal with poor behaviour. It is true that as a result of that suspensions have increased. But there should be consequences for bad behaviour, including online bad behaviour. We simply cannot tolerate bad behaviour and bullying in our schools, and that is why we are setting high expectations for behaviour. When high expectations are set, children quickly work out what is acceptable and what is not. We cannot allow situations where entire classrooms of students bear the consequences of poor behaviour. If we are going to lift outcomes in this State, we need safe and settled classrooms. There is a lot more to do in this space, but our Government has demonstrated it is serious about making schools safer places for all students.