| Outputs |
| Parliamentary education resources and programs. |
Curriculum-aligned programs for students and teachers are delivered at Parliament House, in classrooms though the outreach program and digitally to encourage ongoing engagement with the Australian Parliament. |
Feedback from teachers using Parliamentary Education Office services showed very high levels of satisfaction with the education program.
Teaching programs were consistently conducted in accordance with the booking schedule. |
Relevant and accurate print and digital resources are produced that explore the role and value of the Australian Parliament and illuminate the aims and achievement standards of the Australian Curriculum. |
Parliamentary Education Office websites and publications were updated and refreshed regularly to ensure accuracy. |
Provision of a range of resources and services that facilitate parliamentarian engagement with the community in order to increase citizen understanding of and engagement with Parliament. |
Senators and members were satisfied with the provision of services and support. |
Overview
The Parliamentary Education Office (PEO) is led by the Clerk Assistant (Procedure) and the Director, PEO, Angela Casey. The PEO delivers parliamentary education services on behalf of the Australian Parliament to students, teachers and others across Australia. To date, more than 2.3 million students have expanded their knowledge of the Australian Parliament through participating in a PEO program.
The PEO is jointly funded by the Department of the Senate and the Department of the House of Representatives. In addition to operational management by the Department of the Senate, the PEO is guided by the PEO Advisory Committee. The committee is comprised of interested members and senators, is co-chaired by the Deputy Speaker and the Deputy President and meets three times a year.
The full-time equivalent (FTE) staffing level for the PEO in 2021–22 was 10.8 (in 2020–21 the FTE staffing level was 11.1.) The cost of providing the services of the PEO in 2021–22 was $1.5m ($1.5m in 2020–21).
Education programs: onsite, digital and outreach
The PEO is a leader in civics and citizenship education in Australia and delivers education programs for teachers and students onsite at Parliament House, in classrooms across Australia and digitally through video conferencing.
School visits to Parliament House continued to be significantly impacted by travel restrictions and hesitancy related to the COVID-19 pandemic. For schools that were able to visit Parliament House, all programs were conducted in a COVID-safe manner. In 2021–22, 19,468 students from 347 schools across Australia participated in an onsite PEO program. This is a 32% decrease on 2020–21. All schools that cancelled bookings were offered a video conferencing program.
The number of students and teachers who took part in a video conferencing program continued to increase, with 31,972 participants in this reporting period. This is over three times the number of participants in 2020–21. 40% of bookings were repeat schools. This increase can be attributed to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the PEO’s reputation as a high-quality provider of digital education and the PEO’s involvement in collaborative education events with other cultural institutions and parliaments. In this reporting period, the PEO also upgraded its video conferencing studios, paving the way for the PEO to further expand its provision of digital education programs about the Australian Parliament.
In 2021–22, the PEO conducted 6 outreach sessions to 133 preservice teachers in the Australian Capital Territory. This geographical focus was planned as a response to mitigating the risks associated with changing pandemic travel restrictions. While a more narrow focus than previous outreach programs, it did allow the PEO to concentrate on an area that has not previously received outreach programs. The outreach program is planned to resume in full in 2023.
Content: online and print
The PEO website (peo.gov.au) provides information about parliament and curriculum-aligned teaching resources for all Australian teachers and students. In 2021–22, 1.5 million users (representing 3.14 million unique page views) accessed high-quality information about Australia’s system of government and Parliament. In 2022, the PEO website was enhanced with the inclusion of the Your questions on notice service. This has expanded the range of information on the website and the PEO’s engagement with its audience.
The PEO also produced and distributed a range of publications during the reporting period, including a new set of posters for primary and secondary students to discover our first 8 prime ministers and their contributions to the development of Australia.
Services for members and senators
The PEO encourages and supports members and senators to engage with schools and students. Parliamentarians are offered a complimentary annual allocation of education and information materials for students, teachers, and others in their communities. In 2021–22, 111 parliamentarians requested their allocation, which compares to 126 in the previous reporting period. This reduction was also noted in the previous reporting period and could be a result of the pandemic restricting the ability of parliamentarians to visit schools. Parliamentarians are also able to access a schedule of school visits to Parliament House and engage with students from their electorates during their programs.
Performance outlook
Over the next reporting period, the PEO will continue to follow all relevant health advice to safely deliver onsite and outreach education programs for Australian teachers and students. The PEO will also continue to enhance and promote its video conferencing programs and other services as a method to engage students and teachers who are unable to visit Canberra. In addition, the outreach program will be reinvigorated in 2023, when it it hoped that planning and execution of the outreach program can be more certain.
Through the ongoing provision of high calibre digital and print content for parliamentarians, teachers, and students, the PEO will continue to provide excellent parliamentary education services for citizens across the country.