'Gaping hole' in social media ban as YouTube plugged in
The video-sharing website was initially spared from the world-first national ban for under-16s as part of an exemption for health and education services.
But after receiving advice from eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, the federal government decided to include the platform as part of the social media ban.
Under the changes, children won't be allowed to have YouTube accounts that allow users to watch age-restricted videos.
Children will still be able to access YouTube Kids or view any videos accessible while not logged into the platform.
Social media expert Tama Leaver from Curtin University said there was no evidence that the planned tools would be good enough to verify users' ages, although a final report into measures to enforce the ban was still due to be released.
"There is a gaping hole in this policy," he told AAP.
"We should have the technical road map for how this is expected to work.
"The government should have been able to say to platforms, 'these are things that we believe are reliable enough'."
Swinburne University media expert Belinda Barnet said YouTube wasn't a "special case" as the company had been arguing, with the platform presenting the same risk of harm as any social media site.
"We can expect there's going to be a very difficult period where the platforms make 'first pancake' mistakes in Australia and there's an adjustment period," she said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged parents who had lost their children to suicide following social media abuse and thanked them for their courage in speaking in favour of the ban.
"Their stories are felt by countless other parents and by communities right across the country," he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
Mia Bannister, who lost her 14-year-old son Ollie in 2024, said parents had been advocating for greater protections for young people.
"It wasn't the result of one voice, but the power of many united in purpose, driven by hope and committed to protecting our kids," she said.
YouTube said it shares the government's goal to reduce online harm but argues that it differs from others and is not a social media platform.
"We will consider the next steps and will continue to engage with the government," a spokesperson said.
YouTube also says it is often used as an educational resource by teachers in the classroom.
The platform's inclusion was foreshadowed after the online safety watchdog in June cited research that found children were exposed to harmful content on YouTube more than on any other platform.
It will join other platforms, such as Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, which were included under the ban when legislation passed parliament in 2024.
Communications Minister Anika Wells said social media platforms had been "on notice" since December and were given 12 months to develop verification processes.
"We can't control the ocean, but we can police the sharks, and that's why I will not be intimidated by leaving threats when this is a genuine fight for the wellbeing of Australian kids," she said.
Opposition communications spokeswoman Melissa McIntosh described the backflip on exempting YouTube as a "blatant broken promise" to Australians.
"We are concerned that the eSafety Commissioner is testing boundaries which are moving beyond what Australians are comfortable with," she said.
YouTube's parent company Google has already threatened to sue Australia on the grounds that a ban would restricts the implied constitutional freedom of political communication.
Educators can continue to use school-approved educational YouTube content through their own accounts.
Under the legislation, age-restricted social media platforms will face fines of up to $49.5 million if they fail to prevent people younger than 16 from creating accounts.
Lifeline 13 11 14
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)
Australian children will be barred from having YouTube accounts under an incoming social media ban, but experts are warning of inadequate tools to enforce the measures.
The video-sharing website was initially spared from the world-first national ban for under-16s as part of an exemption for health and education services.
But after receiving advice from eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, the federal government decided to include the platform as part of the social media ban.
Under the changes, children won't be allowed to have YouTube accounts that allow users to watch age-restricted videos.
Children will still be able to access YouTube Kids or view any videos accessible while not logged into the platform.
Social media expert Tama Leaver from Curtin University said there was no evidence that the planned tools would be good enough to verify users' ages, although a final report into measures to enforce the ban was still due to be released.
"There is a gaping hole in this policy," he told AAP.
"We should have the technical road map for how this is expected to work.
"The government should have been able to say to platforms, 'these are things that we believe are reliable enough'."
Swinburne University media expert Belinda Barnet said YouTube wasn't a "special case" as the company had been arguing, with the platform presenting the same risk of harm as any social media site.
"We can expect there's going to be a very difficult period where the platforms make 'first pancake' mistakes in Australia and there's an adjustment period," she said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged parents who had lost their children to suicide following social media abuse and thanked them for their courage in speaking in favour of the ban.
"Their stories are felt by countless other parents and by communities right across the country," he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
Mia Bannister, who lost her 14-year-old son Ollie in 2024, said parents had been advocating for greater protections for young people.
"It wasn't the result of one voice, but the power of many united in purpose, driven by hope and committed to protecting our kids," she said.
YouTube said it shares the government's goal to reduce online harm but argues that it differs from others and is not a social media platform.
"We will consider the next steps and will continue to engage with the government," a spokesperson said.
YouTube also says it is often used as an educational resource by teachers in the classroom.
The platform's inclusion was foreshadowed after the online safety watchdog in June cited research that found children were exposed to harmful content on YouTube more than on any other platform.
It will join other platforms, such as Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, which were included under the ban when legislation passed parliament in 2024.
Communications Minister Anika Wells said social media platforms had been "on notice" since December and were given 12 months to develop verification processes.
"We can't control the ocean, but we can police the sharks, and that's why I will not be intimidated by leaving threats when this is a genuine fight for the wellbeing of Australian kids," she said.
Opposition communications spokeswoman Melissa McIntosh described the backflip on exempting YouTube as a "blatant broken promise" to Australians.
"We are concerned that the eSafety Commissioner is testing boundaries which are moving beyond what Australians are comfortable with," she said.
YouTube's parent company Google has already threatened to sue Australia on the grounds that a ban would restricts the implied constitutional freedom of political communication.
Educators can continue to use school-approved educational YouTube content through their own accounts.
Under the legislation, age-restricted social media platforms will face fines of up to $49.5 million if they fail to prevent people younger than 16 from creating accounts.
Lifeline 13 11 14
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)
Australian children will be barred from having YouTube accounts under an incoming social media ban, but experts are warning of inadequate tools to enforce the measures.
The video-sharing website was initially spared from the world-first national ban for under-16s as part of an exemption for health and education services.
But after receiving advice from eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, the federal government decided to include the platform as part of the social media ban.
Under the changes, children won't be allowed to have YouTube accounts that allow users to watch age-restricted videos.
Children will still be able to access YouTube Kids or view any videos accessible while not logged into the platform.
Social media expert Tama Leaver from Curtin University said there was no evidence that the planned tools would be good enough to verify users' ages, although a final report into measures to enforce the ban was still due to be released.
"There is a gaping hole in this policy," he told AAP.
"We should have the technical road map for how this is expected to work.
"The government should have been able to say to platforms, 'these are things that we believe are reliable enough'."
Swinburne University media expert Belinda Barnet said YouTube wasn't a "special case" as the company had been arguing, with the platform presenting the same risk of harm as any social media site.
"We can expect there's going to be a very difficult period where the platforms make 'first pancake' mistakes in Australia and there's an adjustment period," she said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged parents who had lost their children to suicide following social media abuse and thanked them for their courage in speaking in favour of the ban.
"Their stories are felt by countless other parents and by communities right across the country," he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
Mia Bannister, who lost her 14-year-old son Ollie in 2024, said parents had been advocating for greater protections for young people.
"It wasn't the result of one voice, but the power of many united in purpose, driven by hope and committed to protecting our kids," she said.
YouTube said it shares the government's goal to reduce online harm but argues that it differs from others and is not a social media platform.
"We will consider the next steps and will continue to engage with the government," a spokesperson said.
YouTube also says it is often used as an educational resource by teachers in the classroom.
The platform's inclusion was foreshadowed after the online safety watchdog in June cited research that found children were exposed to harmful content on YouTube more than on any other platform.
It will join other platforms, such as Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, which were included under the ban when legislation passed parliament in 2024.
Communications Minister Anika Wells said social media platforms had been "on notice" since December and were given 12 months to develop verification processes.
"We can't control the ocean, but we can police the sharks, and that's why I will not be intimidated by leaving threats when this is a genuine fight for the wellbeing of Australian kids," she said.
Opposition communications spokeswoman Melissa McIntosh described the backflip on exempting YouTube as a "blatant broken promise" to Australians.
"We are concerned that the eSafety Commissioner is testing boundaries which are moving beyond what Australians are comfortable with," she said.
YouTube's parent company Google has already threatened to sue Australia on the grounds that a ban would restricts the implied constitutional freedom of political communication.
Educators can continue to use school-approved educational YouTube content through their own accounts.
Under the legislation, age-restricted social media platforms will face fines of up to $49.5 million if they fail to prevent people younger than 16 from creating accounts.
Lifeline 13 11 14
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)
Australian children will be barred from having YouTube accounts under an incoming social media ban, but experts are warning of inadequate tools to enforce the measures.
The video-sharing website was initially spared from the world-first national ban for under-16s as part of an exemption for health and education services.
But after receiving advice from eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, the federal government decided to include the platform as part of the social media ban.
Under the changes, children won't be allowed to have YouTube accounts that allow users to watch age-restricted videos.
Children will still be able to access YouTube Kids or view any videos accessible while not logged into the platform.
Social media expert Tama Leaver from Curtin University said there was no evidence that the planned tools would be good enough to verify users' ages, although a final report into measures to enforce the ban was still due to be released.
"There is a gaping hole in this policy," he told AAP.
"We should have the technical road map for how this is expected to work.
"The government should have been able to say to platforms, 'these are things that we believe are reliable enough'."
Swinburne University media expert Belinda Barnet said YouTube wasn't a "special case" as the company had been arguing, with the platform presenting the same risk of harm as any social media site.
"We can expect there's going to be a very difficult period where the platforms make 'first pancake' mistakes in Australia and there's an adjustment period," she said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged parents who had lost their children to suicide following social media abuse and thanked them for their courage in speaking in favour of the ban.
"Their stories are felt by countless other parents and by communities right across the country," he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
Mia Bannister, who lost her 14-year-old son Ollie in 2024, said parents had been advocating for greater protections for young people.
"It wasn't the result of one voice, but the power of many united in purpose, driven by hope and committed to protecting our kids," she said.
YouTube said it shares the government's goal to reduce online harm but argues that it differs from others and is not a social media platform.
"We will consider the next steps and will continue to engage with the government," a spokesperson said.
YouTube also says it is often used as an educational resource by teachers in the classroom.
The platform's inclusion was foreshadowed after the online safety watchdog in June cited research that found children were exposed to harmful content on YouTube more than on any other platform.
It will join other platforms, such as Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, which were included under the ban when legislation passed parliament in 2024.
Communications Minister Anika Wells said social media platforms had been "on notice" since December and were given 12 months to develop verification processes.
"We can't control the ocean, but we can police the sharks, and that's why I will not be intimidated by leaving threats when this is a genuine fight for the wellbeing of Australian kids," she said.
Opposition communications spokeswoman Melissa McIntosh described the backflip on exempting YouTube as a "blatant broken promise" to Australians.
"We are concerned that the eSafety Commissioner is testing boundaries which are moving beyond what Australians are comfortable with," she said.
YouTube's parent company Google has already threatened to sue Australia on the grounds that a ban would restricts the implied constitutional freedom of political communication.
Educators can continue to use school-approved educational YouTube content through their own accounts.
Under the legislation, age-restricted social media platforms will face fines of up to $49.5 million if they fail to prevent people younger than 16 from creating accounts.
Lifeline 13 11 14
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)
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Merit Protection Commissioner Jamie Lowe, who also led the robodebt code of conduct investigations in a previous role, delegated complaints against Dr de Brouwer to two independent experts who conducted their probes between October 2024 and April 2025. The code of conduct investigations were kept secret until Dr de Brouwer opted to release a statement on Thursday afternoon, revealing none of the allegations had been substantiated and that he had not breached the APS Code of Conduct. "The independent investigations have affirmed my conduct as APS Commissioner in overseeing the robodebt Inquiry ... They have confirmed the propriety of the APSC's robodebt inquiry and its findings," his statement reads. The two investigations were led by John McMillan, a former ombudsman, acting integrity commissioner and information commissioner, and Greg Wilson, a former secretary and acting public service commissioner in the Victorian Public Service. Across both investigations, allegations included: None of these were substantiated. Dr de Brouwer said he opted to release the statement after freedom-of-information documents were released earlier this week, in which he was reasonably identifiable. "It is essential that integrity officers, including myself as Australian Public Service Commissioner, are not exempt from the processes that other public servants are subject to," Dr de Brouwer said in his statement. "The process that I underwent - as it was for those people who were investigated for breaches of the code in the robodebt inquiry - was forensic, thorough, independent and procedurally fair." Do you know more? Contact Gordon de Brouwer has revealed he faced two investigations into his conduct throughout the Public Service Commission's response to robodebt, but has been cleared of any wrongdoing. Two separate complaints were made to the Merit Protection Commissioner regarding Dr de Brouwer's oversight of APS Code of Conduct investigations into 16 current and former public servants involved in the robodebt scheme. Dr de Brouwer oversaw the year-long investigation into public servants after the release of the robodebt royal commission report. He ultimately decided to release a public statement naming former secretaries Renee Leon and Kathryn Campbell for breaching their codes of conduct. Ms Leon has expressed her disappointment with the findings while Ms Campbell told The Australian she felt scapegoated. Dr de Brouwer's public statement, released in September 2024, also revealed a further 10 public servants breached their codes of conduct, but did not name them. Merit Protection Commissioner Jamie Lowe, who also led the robodebt code of conduct investigations in a previous role, delegated complaints against Dr de Brouwer to two independent experts who conducted their probes between October 2024 and April 2025. The code of conduct investigations were kept secret until Dr de Brouwer opted to release a statement on Thursday afternoon, revealing none of the allegations had been substantiated and that he had not breached the APS Code of Conduct. "The independent investigations have affirmed my conduct as APS Commissioner in overseeing the robodebt Inquiry ... They have confirmed the propriety of the APSC's robodebt inquiry and its findings," his statement reads. The two investigations were led by John McMillan, a former ombudsman, acting integrity commissioner and information commissioner, and Greg Wilson, a former secretary and acting public service commissioner in the Victorian Public Service. Across both investigations, allegations included: None of these were substantiated. Dr de Brouwer said he opted to release the statement after freedom-of-information documents were released earlier this week, in which he was reasonably identifiable. "It is essential that integrity officers, including myself as Australian Public Service Commissioner, are not exempt from the processes that other public servants are subject to," Dr de Brouwer said in his statement. "The process that I underwent - as it was for those people who were investigated for breaches of the code in the robodebt inquiry - was forensic, thorough, independent and procedurally fair." Do you know more? Contact Gordon de Brouwer has revealed he faced two investigations into his conduct throughout the Public Service Commission's response to robodebt, but has been cleared of any wrongdoing. Two separate complaints were made to the Merit Protection Commissioner regarding Dr de Brouwer's oversight of APS Code of Conduct investigations into 16 current and former public servants involved in the robodebt scheme. Dr de Brouwer oversaw the year-long investigation into public servants after the release of the robodebt royal commission report. He ultimately decided to release a public statement naming former secretaries Renee Leon and Kathryn Campbell for breaching their codes of conduct. Ms Leon has expressed her disappointment with the findings while Ms Campbell told The Australian she felt scapegoated. Dr de Brouwer's public statement, released in September 2024, also revealed a further 10 public servants breached their codes of conduct, but did not name them. Merit Protection Commissioner Jamie Lowe, who also led the robodebt code of conduct investigations in a previous role, delegated complaints against Dr de Brouwer to two independent experts who conducted their probes between October 2024 and April 2025. The code of conduct investigations were kept secret until Dr de Brouwer opted to release a statement on Thursday afternoon, revealing none of the allegations had been substantiated and that he had not breached the APS Code of Conduct. "The independent investigations have affirmed my conduct as APS Commissioner in overseeing the robodebt Inquiry ... They have confirmed the propriety of the APSC's robodebt inquiry and its findings," his statement reads. The two investigations were led by John McMillan, a former ombudsman, acting integrity commissioner and information commissioner, and Greg Wilson, a former secretary and acting public service commissioner in the Victorian Public Service. Across both investigations, allegations included: None of these were substantiated. Dr de Brouwer said he opted to release the statement after freedom-of-information documents were released earlier this week, in which he was reasonably identifiable. "It is essential that integrity officers, including myself as Australian Public Service Commissioner, are not exempt from the processes that other public servants are subject to," Dr de Brouwer said in his statement. "The process that I underwent - as it was for those people who were investigated for breaches of the code in the robodebt inquiry - was forensic, thorough, independent and procedurally fair." Do you know more? Contact
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'Worrying' student test results spur fresh funding plea
Stagnating literacy and numeracy levels have fuelled calls for an urgent increase in funding as test results reveal about one-tenth of students need help to meet basic standards. While two-thirds of Australian primary and high school students performed well in latest NAPLAN testing, children in remote areas and from disadvantaged families continue to lag behind their peers. Girls again outperformed boys in literacy but boys did better in numeracy, with the gaps emerging in early secondary and late primary school, according to results released on Wednesday. The Grattan Institute's Amy Haywood said teachers and schools needed the benefit of greater investment to provide practical support to students. "The results can be sobering … we should be asking governments what they are doing to support teachers," she told AAP. "A teacher working on their own can't do the impossible. They need support from government." Ms Haywood, who previously worked as a secondary teacher, said it would be incredibly difficult to provide ongoing support to the growing number of students who are falling behind. "If you keep falling behind, it's harder to catch-up as you go through school. That has a flow-on impact." Education Minister Jason Clare acknowledged there was more work to do to improve results. He said the federal government had committed to the biggest investment in public schools in Australian history, worth $16 billion over the next 10 years. The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, which runs the annual tests, said results in all subjects were relatively stable. But Indigenous students, as well as children in remote and rural areas, remained well behind, prompting a call for "collective action" to help struggling pupils. Ms Haywood said the results were concerning, although the figures had differed little in the past three years. "It's worrying that one in three school students are still falling short of that proficiency benchmark in literacy and numeracy," she said. Just one in five students in very remote areas had results that were considered strong or exceeding expectations - far below the 70 per cent of students in major cities who achieved the same rankings. Almost one-third of Indigenous students fell below minimum standards and needed extra support, compared to less than one in 10 non-Indigenous students. Centre for Independent Studies education research fellow Trisha Jha said an improvement in the results was likely, although it would take time. "We've got instructional models and approaches to teaching and curriculum that are becoming more aligned with evidence," she said. "Those are really positive changes but the biggest problem is that it's going to take a long time for the impact of those policies to be felt on students at a classroom level." Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly called for additional public school funding, saying staff felt undervalued. "There is no doubt we're putting the outcomes we need from our children and young people as they go through school in jeopardy unless we fund our schools properly," he said. The NAPLAN results released on Wednesday did not give reasons behind the trends, while a school-by-school breakdown will be released later in the year. Participation rates have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels as 1.3 million students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sat the tests in early March - equivalent to 93.8 per cent of pupils. That includes students in Queensland, who did their exams in the days after Cyclone Alfred struck and still managed the highest participation rates since 2019. Stagnating literacy and numeracy levels have fuelled calls for an urgent increase in funding as test results reveal about one-tenth of students need help to meet basic standards. While two-thirds of Australian primary and high school students performed well in latest NAPLAN testing, children in remote areas and from disadvantaged families continue to lag behind their peers. Girls again outperformed boys in literacy but boys did better in numeracy, with the gaps emerging in early secondary and late primary school, according to results released on Wednesday. The Grattan Institute's Amy Haywood said teachers and schools needed the benefit of greater investment to provide practical support to students. "The results can be sobering … we should be asking governments what they are doing to support teachers," she told AAP. "A teacher working on their own can't do the impossible. They need support from government." Ms Haywood, who previously worked as a secondary teacher, said it would be incredibly difficult to provide ongoing support to the growing number of students who are falling behind. "If you keep falling behind, it's harder to catch-up as you go through school. That has a flow-on impact." Education Minister Jason Clare acknowledged there was more work to do to improve results. He said the federal government had committed to the biggest investment in public schools in Australian history, worth $16 billion over the next 10 years. The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, which runs the annual tests, said results in all subjects were relatively stable. But Indigenous students, as well as children in remote and rural areas, remained well behind, prompting a call for "collective action" to help struggling pupils. Ms Haywood said the results were concerning, although the figures had differed little in the past three years. "It's worrying that one in three school students are still falling short of that proficiency benchmark in literacy and numeracy," she said. Just one in five students in very remote areas had results that were considered strong or exceeding expectations - far below the 70 per cent of students in major cities who achieved the same rankings. Almost one-third of Indigenous students fell below minimum standards and needed extra support, compared to less than one in 10 non-Indigenous students. Centre for Independent Studies education research fellow Trisha Jha said an improvement in the results was likely, although it would take time. "We've got instructional models and approaches to teaching and curriculum that are becoming more aligned with evidence," she said. "Those are really positive changes but the biggest problem is that it's going to take a long time for the impact of those policies to be felt on students at a classroom level." Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly called for additional public school funding, saying staff felt undervalued. "There is no doubt we're putting the outcomes we need from our children and young people as they go through school in jeopardy unless we fund our schools properly," he said. The NAPLAN results released on Wednesday did not give reasons behind the trends, while a school-by-school breakdown will be released later in the year. Participation rates have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels as 1.3 million students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sat the tests in early March - equivalent to 93.8 per cent of pupils. That includes students in Queensland, who did their exams in the days after Cyclone Alfred struck and still managed the highest participation rates since 2019. Stagnating literacy and numeracy levels have fuelled calls for an urgent increase in funding as test results reveal about one-tenth of students need help to meet basic standards. While two-thirds of Australian primary and high school students performed well in latest NAPLAN testing, children in remote areas and from disadvantaged families continue to lag behind their peers. Girls again outperformed boys in literacy but boys did better in numeracy, with the gaps emerging in early secondary and late primary school, according to results released on Wednesday. The Grattan Institute's Amy Haywood said teachers and schools needed the benefit of greater investment to provide practical support to students. "The results can be sobering … we should be asking governments what they are doing to support teachers," she told AAP. "A teacher working on their own can't do the impossible. They need support from government." Ms Haywood, who previously worked as a secondary teacher, said it would be incredibly difficult to provide ongoing support to the growing number of students who are falling behind. "If you keep falling behind, it's harder to catch-up as you go through school. That has a flow-on impact." Education Minister Jason Clare acknowledged there was more work to do to improve results. He said the federal government had committed to the biggest investment in public schools in Australian history, worth $16 billion over the next 10 years. The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, which runs the annual tests, said results in all subjects were relatively stable. But Indigenous students, as well as children in remote and rural areas, remained well behind, prompting a call for "collective action" to help struggling pupils. Ms Haywood said the results were concerning, although the figures had differed little in the past three years. "It's worrying that one in three school students are still falling short of that proficiency benchmark in literacy and numeracy," she said. Just one in five students in very remote areas had results that were considered strong or exceeding expectations - far below the 70 per cent of students in major cities who achieved the same rankings. Almost one-third of Indigenous students fell below minimum standards and needed extra support, compared to less than one in 10 non-Indigenous students. Centre for Independent Studies education research fellow Trisha Jha said an improvement in the results was likely, although it would take time. "We've got instructional models and approaches to teaching and curriculum that are becoming more aligned with evidence," she said. "Those are really positive changes but the biggest problem is that it's going to take a long time for the impact of those policies to be felt on students at a classroom level." Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly called for additional public school funding, saying staff felt undervalued. "There is no doubt we're putting the outcomes we need from our children and young people as they go through school in jeopardy unless we fund our schools properly," he said. The NAPLAN results released on Wednesday did not give reasons behind the trends, while a school-by-school breakdown will be released later in the year. Participation rates have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels as 1.3 million students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sat the tests in early March - equivalent to 93.8 per cent of pupils. That includes students in Queensland, who did their exams in the days after Cyclone Alfred struck and still managed the highest participation rates since 2019. Stagnating literacy and numeracy levels have fuelled calls for an urgent increase in funding as test results reveal about one-tenth of students need help to meet basic standards. While two-thirds of Australian primary and high school students performed well in latest NAPLAN testing, children in remote areas and from disadvantaged families continue to lag behind their peers. Girls again outperformed boys in literacy but boys did better in numeracy, with the gaps emerging in early secondary and late primary school, according to results released on Wednesday. The Grattan Institute's Amy Haywood said teachers and schools needed the benefit of greater investment to provide practical support to students. "The results can be sobering … we should be asking governments what they are doing to support teachers," she told AAP. "A teacher working on their own can't do the impossible. They need support from government." Ms Haywood, who previously worked as a secondary teacher, said it would be incredibly difficult to provide ongoing support to the growing number of students who are falling behind. "If you keep falling behind, it's harder to catch-up as you go through school. That has a flow-on impact." Education Minister Jason Clare acknowledged there was more work to do to improve results. He said the federal government had committed to the biggest investment in public schools in Australian history, worth $16 billion over the next 10 years. The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, which runs the annual tests, said results in all subjects were relatively stable. But Indigenous students, as well as children in remote and rural areas, remained well behind, prompting a call for "collective action" to help struggling pupils. Ms Haywood said the results were concerning, although the figures had differed little in the past three years. "It's worrying that one in three school students are still falling short of that proficiency benchmark in literacy and numeracy," she said. Just one in five students in very remote areas had results that were considered strong or exceeding expectations - far below the 70 per cent of students in major cities who achieved the same rankings. Almost one-third of Indigenous students fell below minimum standards and needed extra support, compared to less than one in 10 non-Indigenous students. Centre for Independent Studies education research fellow Trisha Jha said an improvement in the results was likely, although it would take time. "We've got instructional models and approaches to teaching and curriculum that are becoming more aligned with evidence," she said. "Those are really positive changes but the biggest problem is that it's going to take a long time for the impact of those policies to be felt on students at a classroom level." Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly called for additional public school funding, saying staff felt undervalued. "There is no doubt we're putting the outcomes we need from our children and young people as they go through school in jeopardy unless we fund our schools properly," he said. The NAPLAN results released on Wednesday did not give reasons behind the trends, while a school-by-school breakdown will be released later in the year. Participation rates have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels as 1.3 million students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sat the tests in early March - equivalent to 93.8 per cent of pupils. That includes students in Queensland, who did their exams in the days after Cyclone Alfred struck and still managed the highest participation rates since 2019.
