Advocacy
APPA continues to be a major influence on the national educational agenda and the decision-making of governments and educational authorities. As the national voice for all primary school principals and within the context of providing the best possible education for Australian primary school students, APPA seeks to contribute, lead and influence the educational agenda through constructive and direct involvement.
APPA has undertaken several major pieces of work, some in collaboration with the Commonwealth Department responsible for school education. These have included:
- Principals as Literacy Leaders: Confident, Credible and Connected (2012)
- Principals as Literacy Leaders with Indigenous Communities: Leadership for Learning to Read (2014)
- School Autonomy in Primary Education (2014)
- Initial Teacher Education: Teacher Preparation, Course Content and Specialisation at all levels but particularly Primary Schools (2015)
- Back to Balance: How policy and practice can make primary principals highly effective (2017)
- National Symposium on Principal Health and Well Being (2017)
- National Principal Charter (2018)
- Thrive with Five (2018)
- The Impact of Childhood Anxiety on Primary Schooling (2019/20)
APPA has also developed submissions and/or attended as a witness to various inquiries, including:
- Senate Inquiry into Teaching and Learning: Maximising Our Investment in Australian Schools (2012)
- Effectiveness of the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (2013)
- Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2015)
- Senate Inquiry into access and attainment for Students with Disability in the school system (2015)
- Senate Select Committee on School Funding Investment (2016)
- Inquiry into educational opportunities for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander Students (2016)
- Productivity Commission Education Evidence Base (2016)
- Independent Review into Regional, Rural and Remote Education (2017)
- Optimising STEM Industry-School Partnerships: Inspiring Australia’s Next Generation (2018)
- Teacher Registration Review (2018)
- Melbourne Declaration Review (2019)
- Loadings for Students with Disabilities (2019)
- Valuing the teaching profession – an independent inquiry (NSW) (2020)
- Indigenous cultural competency in the Australian teaching workforce (2020)
- Review of Regional SRS Loadings (2021)
- Improving Occupational Mobility (2021)
- The Importance of Adult Literacy (2021)
- Initial Teacher Education Review (2021)