Secular Chaplaincy

The Herald Sun, Ben Packham, 14 January 2008

The Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Ms Julia Gillard, has indicated that the Howard Government’s National School Chaplaincy Programme will be modified to allow schools to receive funding for any
suitable qualified counsellor.

Under the current guidelines, schools are eligible to receive up to $20,000 per annum to employ a person with a
religious background to provide spiritual support for students.

The chaplaincy programme was initiated last year by former Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, who believed that
chaplains could ‘be of great help to school communities when there are devastating accidents, when children’s
parents break up.’

Ms Gillard stated that the current $90 million programme would be allowed to continue until it was scheduled to run
out in two years time. After that, she indicated that the programme would be extended to include secular counsellors.

 

 

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