Papers prepared for the July 2026 Education Ministers Meetings

Question

Senator KOVACIC: Has the department prepared or is it preparing any papers for the upcoming Education Ministers Meeting? Mr Cook: That would be our normal practice, yes. Senator KOVACIC: Can you tell me how many papers you've prepared and what they relate to? Mr Cook: I'd have to take that on notice. I don't know how many papers have been prepared. Senator KOVACIC: Could we have that today? Mr Cook: We'll do our best, noting that there will be papers that are still yet to be prepared, and there might be items that come in on states and territories as well, as part of that. Senator KOVACIC: Yes, of course. Just where you're at now would be great. What other items are on the agenda for that upcoming Education Ministers Meeting? Are you able to tell me that? Mr Cook: Not off the top of my head. Senator KOVACIC: Would you be able to provide that on notice if that information is available for me today? Mr Cook: We'll see what we can do, noting that the normal practice around Education Ministers Meetings is that, because the meetings are owned by all ministers, all ministers have a view about information to be released or not released. That has been standard practice for many, many years. Senator KOVACIC: Okay. But we're entitled to access the information that you do have. Mr Cook: You're entitled to, yes. But, generally, our position is to contact all ministers because the Education Ministers Meeting is owned by all ministers in relation to the information that's shared with Commonwealth committees, and we've done that since day one. Senator KOVACIC: Okay. That's interesting. Mr Cook: It's not unusual. We've done it on all sides of government. It's just the usual practice.

Answer

Please see the attached PDF.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• SQ26-000673.pdf (opens in a new tab)