Last month the NSW Opposition leader Luke Foley announced that Labor wants to make it easier for parents to choose between scripture (aka ‘special religious education’ or ‘SRE’), ethics (aka ‘special education in ethics’ or SEE’) classes or neither (aka ‘alternative activities’) in NSW public schools.

Shadow Minister for Education Jihad Dib sees it as a very simple thing to do, that is –

 ….go back to the [enrolment] form that was in use before the Liberal-National government changed it. Allow parents to just tick the box, without the need to write additional letters – or creating more confusion. 

The Minister for Education, Rob Stokes, is reportedly ‘pleased that Labor supports our view’ and has claimed that he has spoken to the Department of Education’s Special Religious Education Consultative Committee (the SRE-CC – mainly made up of religious organisations) and they have indicated that they too are happy for the enrolment form to change.

The Minister’s newfound willingness to consider changing the enrolment form is good to hear given that he has previously chosen to not support the recommendation in the 2015 independent review of scripture and ethics that his Department should ‘assess the suitability of the new school enrolment form (October 2015) and processes to ensure these are clear and working as intended.’

So, it seems ‘choice’ is the mantra with both sides of NSW politics and scripture providers all eager to declare their respect for the rights of all parents and caregivers to choose between scripture, ethics, or alternative activities.

Therefore, FIRIS believes it is timely to make public the results of more than five years of tracking changes to the enrolment process, corresponding with the Ministers for Education and the Department of Education and using NSW’s freedom of information law to get important documents such as the minutes of the SRE-CC.

What FIRIS has found reveals a a very different picture to the one painted by the Minister and the scripture lobby when it comes to a respect for the choices of all students and their parents/caregivers..

We will start by looking at the SRE-CC and what its members’ past actions and statements can tell us about their respect for parent/caregiver choice. In particular, we will consider the statements and actions of the scripture lobby’s most frequent spokesperson, Murray Norman.

Murray is the Presbyterian Church’s representative on the SRE-CC, a board member of the pressure group, the Inter-Church Commission of Religious Education In Schools (ICCOREIS), the CEO of ChristianSRE (an offspring of ICCOREIS) and the Deputy Chair of Generate Ministries, the main employer of scripture instructors in NSW secondary schools.

According to ChristianSRE, ‘Murray brings a business mindset to thinking strategically about ministry’ evident in ChristianSRE’s marketing mantra ‘It’s your right of choice. Because faith is an individual thing.’

In response to NSW Labor’s commitment to return the option of ethics to the enrolment form, ChristianSRE claimed that they ‘are keen to work with all stakeholders, to ensure that parents get a choice’ –

Furthermore, following a recent report  that a high school in northern NSW was ignoring the choice of parents and caregivers and placing their children in scripture against their express wishes, Murray claimed in an interview that scripture providers respect the choices of parents and caregivers and that scripture providers and schools follow the Department’s ‘sound’ procedures. According to Murray –

It’s not actually for the churches or the SRE providers or the principals to choose where they go, it’s up to the parents. And what we’re keen to do is encourage everyone to be following that…

See here for a full transcript of the interview on Hope 103.2 FM (14 March 2018).

But alas, when we consider the scripture lobby’s response to the first roll-out of the enrolment form that Labor is now proposing we return to, all is not what Murray would have us believe.

The controversial version of the enrolment form including the option of ethics was originally released in June 2014.

 

 

On 10 November 2014 Murray Norman sent an email with attached documents to Dr David Cullen, then the Department’s Director responsible for scripture and ethics. The documents outlined the scripture lobby’s desired changes to the enrolment form above and enrolment processes.

 

Download (PDF, 876KB)

 

Murray’s email was also sent to the following people who are still current members of the SRE-CC –

  • John Donnelly (then representing the Catholic Church – now representing ICCOREIS)
  • Jude Hennessy (Catholic Church)
  • Alison Newell (Catholic Church)
  • Dr James Athanasou (Greek Orthodox)

Dr Cullen then forwarded Murray’s email and its attachments to all members of the SRE-CC with the statement – ‘Murray Norman will be talking to these documents at our meeting tomorrow’. The minutes for the Committee meeting on 11 November 2014 record these documents as having been tabled and discussed.

The following attendees at this meeting remain as current members of the SRE-CC:

  • Murray Norman (Presbyterian Church)
  • John Donnelly (then representing the Catholic Church – now representing ICCOREIS)
  • Jude Hennessy (Catholic Church)
  • Alison Newell (Catholic Church)
  • Rachele Schonberger (then representing the NSW Board of Jewish Education – now representing All Faiths SRE)
  • Emma Parr (Uniting Church of Australia)
  • Shoko Creedy (Baha’i Council)
  • Rob Walker (Primary Principals’ Assoc.)
  • Jane Simmons (Department of Education – Chair)

The table in the attachment to Murray’s email named ‘141106_DEC Enrolment Form Procedure.docx’ states very clearly how the scripture lobby on the SRE-CC wanted the enrolment process to work.

The SRE Participation Letter had been introduced by the Department earlier in 2014 in response to Recommendation 12 of the Final Report of General Purpose Standing Committee No 2, Education Amendment, (Ethics Classes Repeal) Bill 2011.

What is important to note at this point is that the table above indicates a declaration of ‘no religion’ or ‘none’ was no longer regarded by the scripture lobby on the SRE-CC as evidence that a parent/caregiver was objecting their child receiving religious instruction.

In response to such a declaration, the scripture lobby wanted the SRE Participation Letter sent home listing the available scripture options at the school and providing parents/caregivers with the option to withdraw (most likely for the second time).

Furthermore, in the days following the SRE-CC meeting on 11 November 2014, a member [or members] of the SRE-CC argued for the removal of the prompt to write ‘no religion’ on the enrolment form because responding to the question ‘What is the student’s religion?’ was ‘already optional’ and the ‘answer will likely be one of the major religions represented around the table at our meetings’. It was also argued that –

The inclusion of ‘no religion’ is to prejudice or bias the results by suggesting a category and thus to skew data collection. As the question is now optional, the fact that the parent or caregiver writes something indicates an existing religious awareness or preference.

– but more on this later.

Now this is where it gets very interesting and where the smokescreen mantra of choice clears and the lack of respect for the rights and choices of a large number of students and their parents and caregivers is exposed.

What to do if the SRE Participation Form was not returned?

This question is important because the answer will make clear the Department’s default position regarding the scripture enrolment process. Is it the case, that in the absence of a clear direction from parents/caregivers, the Department’s default position is that the children of such parents are placed in a scripture class? Or, is the default position to place such students in alternative activities thereby respecting and protecting the rights of such students and parents as outlined in international human rights instruments?

It is clear from the attachments to Murray Norman’s 10 November 2014 email what he and other members of the scripture lobby on the SRE-CC wanted. Once again, the table in attachment 141106_DEC Enrolment Form Procedure.docx is very revealing.

If the SRE Participation Letter was not returned, the student was to be ‘enrolled in the SRE program deemed most suitable‘.

The scripture lobby’s suggestion for the SRE Participation Letter (141106 SPECIAL RELIGIOUS EDUCATION PARTICIPATION FORM local School.doc) also makes it clear –

If no preference is indicated, the school will enrol your child in the SRE program deemed most suitable unless the school is informed otherwise by you, as the parent/caregiver.

– as does their suggested amendment to the REIPs (Attachment: 141106 DEC Implementation Procedures.doc) –

When the school has informed parents/caregivers of the options for special religious education and the parents/caregivers have not exercised their right to select an option, the student is enrolled in the Special Religious Education class deemed most suitable.

A reasonable member of the NSW public might now want to ask Murray to explain all of this in the context of his recent March 2018 statement –

It’s not actually for the churches or the SRE providers or the principals to choose where they go, it’s up to the parents.

Many parents and caregivers may be confused about who the scripture lobby expects to be doing the deeming if the SRE Participation Letter is not returned. One thing is certain though, it is obviously not the parents or caregivers.

However, you might be thinking at this point that these were only the suggestions of the scripture lobby on the SRE-CC. Therefore, let’s now have a look at what the previous and current Minister for Education, and the Department have done in response to these suggestions.

In December 2014 the REIPs were changed.

The statement in the previous REIPs  –

Where a religious persuasion was not nominated, the student is placed in alternative activities.

 – was replaced by –

Where a religious persuasion was not nominated on enrolment, or the nominated religious persuasion is not available as a special religious education program at the school, parents/caregivers are informed of other special religious education options available at the school. [emphasis added]

The REIPs also now included a reference to a letter template – the SRE Participation Letter – to be used to offer parents/caregivers ‘the available special religious education options, where a religious persuasion was not nominated on enrolment.’ However, neither the REIPs nor any of its supporting documents said what a school should do if a parent/caregiver chose to leave the SRE Participation Letter blank or if it was not returned at all.

Based on information obtained using NSW’s freedom of information law, it appears that in response to a complaint from an unknown person about the impact of the new enrolment form on the number of students enrolling in scripture and direct involvement and pressure from the NSW Premier’s office, in mid-December 2014 a memorandum to schools was issued to all public school principals.

The memorandum directed principals to send the SRE Participation Letter to all parents of students enrolling in Kindergarten or Year 7 for the 2015 school year but did not say what a principal should do if a parent/caregiver chose to leave the SRE Participation Letter blank or if it was not returned at all.

The memorandum did make it very clear that scripture does not compete with alternative activities or ethics –

It is important to note that both information about SEE where it is available and an offer for parents/caregivers to nominate for their child to attend SEE should not be made until a parent/caregiver has formally withdrawn their child from SRE.

The minutes of the 11 November 2014 SRE-CC meeting also made it very clear that the scripture lobby were not prepared to tolerate ethics being ‘set up against‘ scripture. The attachment to Murray Norman’s 10 November email (141106_Issues with SRE – compiled.docx) also demonstrates that the scripture lobby took issue with ethics and scripture ‘being offered together as equal options‘.

In late July 2015 further changes were made to the REIPs by replacing the statement –

Where a religious persuasion was not nominated on enrolment, or the nominated religious persuasion is not available as a special religious education program at the school, parents/caregivers are informed of other special religious education options available at the school.

– with –

Where a religious persuasion was not nominated on enrolment or the nominated religious persuasion is not available as a special religious education program at the school, parents/ caregivers are asked to complete a special religious education preference form [i.e. SRE Participation Letter] which outlines all special religious education options available at the school. [emphasis added]

Once again, there was no statement about what was to happen if the ‘special religious education preference form’ – the SRE Participation Letter – was not returned or was returned blank.

So it seems the Department granted the scripture lobby and thus the SRE-CC’s wish that the SRE Participation Letter be sent home in response to an ‘Incomplete religion question on the enrolment form’ (see the first table above ‘141106_DEC Enrolment Form Procedure.docx’).

In August 2015 a complaint was sent to the Department regarding these amendments to the REIPs. It was pointed out to the Department that the removal of the explicit direction to place a student in alternative activities if a scripture class was not nominated on the enrolment form enabled schools to place a child in scripture without the express consent of the students parents/caregivers.

Furthermore, it was pointed out that in the event of this happening, parents and caregivers could not appeal to the REIPs as part of a complaint.

The complainant requested that evidence that the letter had been tabled and discussed at the next meeting of the SRE-CC be provided along with an outline of any actions to be taken in response to the complaint.

Dr Cullen, the then Director responsible for scripture and ethics, responded by saying:

Schools follow their normal procedure if a parent does not return their preference for a SRE class or to withdraw their child from SRE. Recommendation 41 from the Rawlinson Report 1981 states that a parent must notify the school of changes in enrolment or intended withdrawal in writing.

Nonetheless, Dr Cullen wrote that the complainant’s comments had been taken on notice and would be considered in any future review of the REIPs. He also confirmed that the complainant’s letter and concerns had been added to the agenda of the next SRE-CC meeting. Therefore, we can assume that those present at the SRE-CC meeting on 10 November 2015 were made aware of the contents of the complainant’s letter and the concerns that the rights of students and their parents/caregivers were being violated.

It is important to note here that the following attendees at that meeting remain as current members of the scripture committee:

  • Murray Norman (Presbyterian Church)
  • John Donnelly (then representing the Catholic Church – now representing ICCOREIS)
  • Jude Hennessy (Catholic Church)
  • Alison Newell (Catholic Church)
  • Rachele Schonberger (then representing the NSW Board of Jewish Education – now representing All Faiths SRE)
  • Emma Parr (Uniting Church of Australia)
  • Dr James Athanasou (Greek Orthodox Church)
  • Shoko Creedy (Baha’i Council)
  • Roslyn Deal (then representing the P&C Federation – now representing ICCOREIS)
  • Rob Walker (Primary Principals’ Assoc.)
  • Michael Rathborne (Secondary Principals’ Council)
  • Jane Simmons (Department of Education – Chair)
  • Joshua Chenery (Department of Education – SRE & SEE Officer)

 

Early in October 2015 the current version of the enrolment was released.

The choice was supposedly simple – parents and caregivers seemed to have the option to identify the student’s religion if they wanted the student to participate in scripture and also the option to leave it blank which one would assume would be enough to be saying ‘no’ to scripture. It should be noted that is how it has been explained by Christian scripture pressure groups, such as Generate Ministries.

Granting the wish of the scripture lobby on the SRE-CC to have the prompt to write ‘No religion’ removed, furthered the perception that leaving the section blank would be regarded as an objection to scripture; falsely it turned out…

Because the REIPs current at the time said that if parents did not complete the section of the enrolment form related to scripture they were to be sent the SRE Participation Letter. Furthermore, those REIPs still failed to include a statement about what was to happen if parents/caregivers did not return the SRE Participation Letter or returned it blank.

However, the seeming lack of respect for the rights of all students and their parents/caregivers does not end there.

Despite being made aware of potential violations of the rights of a large number of NSW public school students and their parents and caregivers, not only did the Department and the SRE-CC choose to not make the REIPs more robust, they chose to increase the number of students at risk of having their rights violated.

In April 2016 the Department granted yet another significant wish of the scripture lobby on the SRE-CC.

Even though the Department had removed the prompt to write ‘no religion’ from the October 2015 enrolment form, the choice of parents who used their own initiative to do so was now to be ignored. A declaration of ‘no religion’ in response to the question  ‘Please identify the student’s religion if you want the student to participate in SRE’ was no longer to be regarded as an indication that the parents or caregiver did not want their child to participate in scripture.

The statement in the SRE and SEE fact sheet released in April 2015

If ‘no religion’ is written, students participate in meaningful activities

– was replaced in the April 2016 fact sheet by –

If ‘no religion’ is written, or where there is no nominated persuasion or the persuasion is unavailable, then the principal is to send a letter containing general information about how SRE, SEE and alternative meaningful activities are organised, as well as a SRE participation letter to parents/caregivers. The SRE participation letter outlines the options available for SRE including the option to withdraw. (emphasis added)

The statements in the April 2015 Implementing Special Religious Education (SRE) and Special Education in Ethics (SEE) in NSW Government schools flowchart –

The parent/caregiver has written ‘no religion’ on the enrolment form → Student engages in meaningful activities during SRE time.

– were replaced in the April 2016 flowchart by –

The parent/caregiver has left the religious persuasion blank or has written ‘no religion’ on the enrolment formPrincipal to send letter to the parent/caregiver containing general information about how SRE, SEE and alternative meaningful activities are organised, as well as a SRE participation letter. The SRE participation letter outlines the options available for SRE including the option to withdraw. (emphasis added)

There was, and still is, no statement in either document about what is to occur if the SRE Participation Letter is not returned or if it is returned blank. The only statement in the flowchart relating to the non-return of a form/letter is in reference to a parent/caregiver not returning the letter offering them an opportunity to enrol in ethics SEE. Only if that letter is not returned is the specific direction given to place the student in alternative activities.

The sending of the SRE Participation Letter to parents and caregivers who have already declared ‘no religion’ or ‘none’ thereby requiring them to opt-out again is an unjustified and unconscionable act by the Department. By doing so, the Department has significantly increased the number of students at risk of being exposed to the religious instruction of others without express consent from parents/caregivers, and in many cases contrary to the expressed wishes of their parents and caregivers.

What part of ‘no religion’ do the Minister and the scripture lobby not understand?

In consideration of the information above, in September 2017 FIRIS sent a letter of complaint about the enrolment processes to the Minister for Education. In addition to the issues raised immediately above, FIRIS also pointed out that from April 2016 onwards both the Principal Checklist – SRE and SEE and the SRE–SEE–VSA FAQs did not, and still do not, tell parents and caregivers what happens if the SRE Participation Letter is not returned or if it is returned blank.

Dr Paul Wood, the new Director responsible for scripture and ethics, replied on behalf of the Minister that ‘if ‘no’ religion is written…then the school should send a SRE participation letter to parents/caregivers which outlines the options available for SRE including the option to withdraw.’ Given the ongoing reluctance from the Department to say what was to happen if the SRE Participation Letter was not returned, FIRIS wrote to Dr Wood and asked him the direct question:

“What advice would you recommend be provided to a principal who asks ‘where should a student be placed during the time allocated to Special Religious Education when their parent/s or caregiver/s have been sent the ‘SRE participation form’ but the form has not been returned or it has been returned blank or without a clear statement of the parent’s intentions?’ ?”

After waiting 6 weeks for an answer, and following advice from the NSW Ombudsman, FIRIS wrote to the Secretary of the Department of Education,  Mark Scott, and asked the same question.

In mid-November, Rod Megahey, the new Director responsible for scripture and ethics, responded on behalf of the Secretary. His letter repeasted sections of Dr Wood’s letter but added:

If the SRE participation letter to parents/caregivers is not returned, it is expected that the school would made all reasonable attempts to seek a response from the parents/caregivers regarding whether the student participates in SRE at the school.

If the parents/caregivers do not return the SRE participation letter, the student will engage in alternative meaningful activities during the time allocated for SRE. Suitable activities include reading, private study and completing homework. (emphasis added)

On 21 September 2017 Ms Jo Haylen, Labor MLA for Summer Hill, asked the Minister for Education in the NSW Legislative Assembly:

What is the procedural response from the Department of Education and ⁄ or the Minister for Education if a Principal requests advice as to how to enrol a student whose SRE Participation Form is not returned?

The Minister for Education responded over a month later:

If the parents ⁄ caregivers do not return the letter, the student will engage in alternative meaningful activities during time allocated for SRE. 

Now a reasonable and principled member of the NSW public might think that since both the Minister and his representative have finally clearly stated what is to happen if the SRE Participation Letter is not returned they would make sure that the REIPs were amended accordingly.

Unfortunately, this was not the case.

No changes were made to the REIPs before the beginning of the 2018 school year. This means that of 803,580 students enrolled in the 2018 school year  –

  • 230,157 students whose parents/caregivers declared ‘no religion’ and
  • 7,827 students whose parents/caregivers were recorded as intentionally not stating their religion or belief and
  • 107,321 students whose parents/caregivers left the enrolment form blank

– were exposed to the risk of being placed in a scripture class ‘deemed most suitable’ if the SRE Participation Letter was not returned or returned blank.

Furthermore, those students whose parents/caregivers nominated a religious persuasion not available at their school were also exposed to this risk, particularly the 105,556 students that had a specific religious persuasion declared on their enrolment form for which there was, and is, no available scripture provider in NSW Government schools approved by the Minister.

In February 2018, in consideration of the fact that the REIPs had not been amended prior to the beginning of the 2018 school year FIRIS wrote another letter of complaint to the Secretary of the Department, Mark Scott.

FIRIS was also alarmed that proposed Special Religious Education Procedures scheduled for implementation on 30 January 2019, also did not contain measures to protect and respect the rights of all parents and caregivers and referred to documents which had not been amended in consideration of the Minister’s response to Jo Haylen.

FIRIS also sent a copy of this letter to the Shadow Minister for Education, Jihad Dib, who then wrote to the Minister for Education and who received the reply:

Download (PDF, 400KB)

Compare this letter word for word to the one received by FIRIS from Rod Megahey mid-November and note the glaring omission.

Download (PDF, 2.61MB)

The Minister has failed to include the statement –

If the parents/caregivers do not return the SRE participation letter, the student will engage in alternative meaningful activities during the time allocated for SRE.

Needless to say, at the time of writing (6 July 2018) neither the current REIPs (dated December 2016) nor the proposed 2019 Procedures or any of the supporting documents have been changed to reflect the Minister’s responses to Jo Haylen or his Department’s response to FIRIS.

So what does all of this reveal about those rushing to declare their respect for parent and caregiver choice now that NSW Labor has made the enrolment form an election issue?

The information above demonstrates that the current Minister for Education’s newfound commitment to respecting parent and caregiver choice is questionable given –

  • his decision to dismiss the 2015 recommendation to review the current enrolment form thereby indicating that he believes the enrolment form and its associated processes were ‘clear and working as intended’
  • his decision to not amend the REIPs to ensure a declaration of ‘no religion’ on the enrolment form is respected as a ‘choice’
  • his seeming willingness to allow his Department’s policies, procedures, processes and practices to enable students to be placed in a scripture class without express and informed consent from their parents or caregivers

It seems the Minister is OK with parents and caregivers having a choice, but it seems he is not so interested in ensuring that that choice is respected, protected and acted on in with any integrity by his Department.

The history of the changes to the enrolment process reveals that the senior Department of Education representatives have amended policies and procedures resulting in the increased risk of the rights and choices of a significant number of students and their parents and caregivers being dismissed at the school level and violated.

In consideration of the audits completed by FIRIS demonstrating the failure of the Department to monitor scripture in any meaningful way and the failure of far too many scripture providers to fulfill their obligations in a self-regulating system, the failure of the Department to develop robust policies and procedures exposes it to the risk of failing to fulfil its duty of care obligations by minimising the risk of students being exposed to the content of scripture lessons and the actions of scripture instructors without express and informed consent from parents and caregivers.

The minutes and associated documents of the SRE-CC, particularly those relating to the enrolment form – and the process Labor is proposing a return to – demonstrates

  • at best, the inability of the SRE-CC to recognise, respect and protect the rights of all students and their parents/caregivers, or
  • at worst, a deliberate dismissal of the rights and the choices of a significant cohort of the NSW public school community with the intention of  increasing the chance of students being funnelled into scripture classes without express and informed consent from parents and caregivers.

So what next?

Given that FIRIS has exhausted all formal and bureaucratic channels to have the Minister ensure that the rights of all students and their parents/caregivers are respected throughout the enrolment process, we are in the process of seeking legal advice based on a 125 page document outlining the history of amendments to the enrolment process including 79 pieces of supporting evidence.

Given that the Minister has chosen to not ensure that his reply to Jo Haylen is reflected in his Department’s policies, procedures and supporting documents FIRIS will be calling upon its supporters to participate in direct actions over the coming weeks and months aimed at ensuring the rights of all students and their parents/caregivers are respected in the 2019 school year.

It’s time to make it very clear, it’s not a ‘yes’ if it’s not a clear and informed ‘yes’.