35770 (2025). Hon Damien O'Connor to the Minister of Education

35770 (2025). Hon Damien O'Connor to the Minister of Education: Is the Minister confident that the disestablishment of Resource Teachers of Literacy services will not widen the achievement gap, particularly for students in low-decile and rural schools; if not, why not?

Hon Erica Stanford: The Government has made significant investments in literacy and literacy supports through Budgets 2024 and 2025: • Budget 2024 included $67 million to help teachers deliver structured approaches to literacy in state and state-integrated schools. • Structured literacy approach (SLA) staffing was introduced from the start of 2025, to provide targeted literacy support for students in Years 0–2. • Budget 2025 provided additional investment enabling the expansion of SLA staffing - from Years 0–2 to Years 0–6 and, - from 271 full-time equivalent teachers (FTTE) to 349 FTTE ongoing from 2026. In 2025, SLA staffing has been allocated to 961 schools. Staffing allocation is based on: • evidence of need • Equity Index score • school roll size. This prioritises students in high equity (i.e., ‘low decile’) schools, which is likely to include many rural schools.