Portfolio management services - Department of Education and Early ...

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information about government educationpolicies, news, innovations in education andtraining opportunities.DoE Mail Bulletin to Schools continued to bea key communication tool between schoolsand the Department. Distributed weekly viaemail, the bulletin provides latest Departmentinformation on policy and staff issues, schoolmanagement, professional learning, eventsand school activities.A Schools Communications Toolkit wasdistributed to all government schools to helpthem to communicate better with their keystakeholders. The toolkit was produced inhardcopy and online at .The Victorian Government SecondarySchools Guide is designed to assist parents inchoosing a secondary school for their child. Itwas distributed to parents of Year 5 studentsin government schools, newsagencies, localmembers of parliament, public libraries andInformation Victoria.The Welcome to School handbook wasdistributed to all parents of Prep students ingovernment schools at the beginning of theschool year. It was also distributed to thebroader community through child-care centres,public libraries and Information Victoria andmade available online in English, Chinese,Vietnamese and Arabic at . The English version isalso in audio format.The Department’s electronic newsletter forparents, Parent Update, provided informationto parents and the broader educationcommunity about initiatives in Victoriangovernment school education. In June 2007,the newsletter had 5686 subscribers.A comprehensive events and promotionsprogram in 2006–07 included Back to Schoolweek, the Victorian School Sports Awards,the Premier’s VCE Awards, Education Week,Victorian Education Excellence Awards,Victorian School Design Awards, the Premier’sReading Challenge, Rubbish Free LunchChallenge and Literacy and Numeracy Week.The Department’s Information and ReferralService provided 24-hour access to recordedinformation about common queries such asschool term dates for Victoria and otherstates, contact details for the Department’sregional offi ces, and special education andtraining dates and events. In addition, theservice responded to telephone and emailenquiries about a broad range of educationmatters. The service was used by parents,students, other community members andschool staff.Services to Ministersand policyExternal and inter-governmentalrelationsThe Department supports Ministers andthe Department’s Executive in fulfi lling theirresponsibilities across the portfolio throughMinisterial and Executive support functions,inter-agency relations, legal services andprivacy administration.Services provided include the coordinationof briefi ngs, correspondence, CommunityCabinet, Parliamentary services, Cabinetand legislation, archives and recordsmanagement and Freedom of Information.These areas provide the interface betweenthe Department and the Ministers on day-todaymatters and ensure that the Department’sadministrative support functions operateeffectively.The Department provides advice on portfoliopolicy and funding relationships with otherVictorian Government departments, Statejurisdictions and Commonwealth agencies.Portfolio management services53
The Department supports the Ministerfor Education and the Minister for Skills,Education Services and Employment asmembers of the Ministerial Council onEducation, Employment, Training, and YouthAffairs, and the Secretary as a member ofthe Australian Education Systems Offi cialsCommittee. It also coordinates the provisionof advice to Commonwealth and Stateparliamentary enquiries and reviews oneducation and training policy.Yearly management cycleThe Department also provides corporateand business planning services. In 2006–07,major activities in the coordination of theDepartment’s yearly management cycleincluded:• developing Office strategic plans as well asDivisional and Regional business plans• implementing a strategic framework toimprove business planning across theDepartment• developing the Department’s budgetsubmissions, culminating in the 2007–08State Budget• evaluating major activities and programswithin the Department• preparing presentations and briefings to thePublic Accounts and Estimates Committeeof the Victorian Parliament• managing the preparation of half-yearlyperformance reports for the ExpenditureReview Committee for the purpose ofrevenue certification• managing the preparation of the portfolioannual reports for 2006–07• supporting the operation of the statutoryauthorities.Legislation implementationThe Education and Training Reform Act 2006,which passed both Houses of Parliament andreceived Royal Assent in May 2006, updatesand replaces 12 separate Acts and representsan undertaking by the Victorian Governmentto ensure that Victoria has a robust andmodern legislative framework for educationand training.In 2006, the Department created a LegislationImplementation Unit within the Offi ce forPolicy, Planning and Evaluation to manage theimplementation of the new Act. In 2006–07,the major component of work arising fromthe Act related to the establishment of theVictorian Registration and Qualifi cationsAuthority. The Authority has responsibility forensuring that all schools, training providers andhigher education providers (except establisheduniversities) meet minimum standards. It isalso responsible for implementing a nonintrusiveprocess for registering studentsbeing home schooled.The Authority’s Board was appointed inOctober 2006, in accordance with theInterpretation of Legislation Act 1984, towork with the Department in undertakingthe work necessary to ensure that the newregulatory regime was operational in time forthe Act to come into effect. This included thedevelopment of associated regulations.Three sets of regulations were developedrelating to the responsibilities of the Authority– the registration of schools, the registrationof home schooling and the registration ofeducation and training organisations. TheEducation Regulations 2000 were also remadeand cover:• government schools – admission ofstudents, times of school operation,discipline, school councils, parent clubsand fundraising• all schools – Education MaintenanceAllowance, the transport of students andtravelling allowances.These regulations were subject to publicconsultation through a Regulatory ImpactStatement process in early 2007 and theyunderwent a formal approval process involving54DoE Annual Report 2006—07
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