The Australian Government's Innovation Report

Fostering Scientific, Mathematical and Technological Skills in Government Schools
Through Backing Australia’s Ability, the Australian Government is allowing states that trigger the Enrolment
Benchmark Adjustment (EBA) to retain their EBA liability for use in government schools to achieve better
scientific, mathematical and technological skills, develop school-based innovation and build supportive school
environments.
The EBA is a mechanism designed to remove the potential for cost shifting by states to the Australian Government
by adjusting general recurrent grants for government schools based on the movement in the ratio of nongovernment
students to government students.
To retain their EBA liability for use under this initiative, states which trigger the EBA must submit a strategic plan
to the Minister for Education, Science and Training each year setting out their proposed activities to strengthen
the science, mathematics and technology curriculum in government schools.
For 2006 the total EBA liability is $134.2 million. It has been triggered in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland,
South Australia and Western Australia.
The initiative will continue under Backing Australia’s Ability – Building our Future through Science and Innovation with
the Australian Government providing an estimated $530.6 million over the four years 2005 to 2008 from the
general recurrent grants allocation.
The Le@rning Federation: Schools Online Curriculum Content Initiative
The Australian Government is providing $60 million from 2001-02 to 2008-09 to support the development of
online curriculum resources, services and applications for Australian schools. This collaborative initiative is
funded on a matched funds basis with the states and territories. New Zealand joined the initiative in 2002.
Australian Government funding for the years 2006-07 to 2008-09 is through the ICT Innovation to Support National
Consistency 2006 Budget measure. From 2001-2006, the initiative was funded through Backing Australia’s Ability.
The Le@rning Federation was the first initiative of its type in Australia with a commitment to a standardised
approach to content creation and dissemination. New knowledge is created in the areas of online curriculum
content, supporting software and systems, and research findings on using digital content in classrooms and
learning outcomes.
During 2005-06, The Le@rning Federation:
• created 1737 learning objects (digital content for school students with embedded learning design) and 2844
digital resources (digitised items from cultural, scientific and archival collections accompanied by educational
value statements), which were made available to educational jurisdictions for distribution to schools;
• improved systems for content management, intellectual property rights management and distribution for
use in schools; and
• commissioned research from Professor Peter Freebody from the University of Queensland. His report
Early-stage use of The Le@rning Federation’s learning objects in schools. Results of a fi eld review, January 2006, shows
positive impact on student engagement with learning.
The Le@rning Federation helps equip students when they leave school to be confident, creative and productive
users of information and communication technologies. It also promotes national consistency across education
sectors and improves teacher effectiveness.
Key activities focus on capturing the knowledge of students and educators, and sharing that knowledge to
build educationally sound, high quality content, as well as capturing the experience of students and educators
when using learning objects and sharing that knowledge.
Cross-sectoral and cross-industry collaboration is a cornerstone. Throughout 2005-06, the initiative continued
to encourage collaboration with education systems and sectors, major cultural and public institutions and key
industry organisations.
More information about The Le@rning Federation can be found at: www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/
Chapter 2 - Initiatives for a dynamic national innovation system 83