The National School Chaplaincy Programme (NSCP) will be rolled out across the country in 2015, following agreement by all states and territories to administer the programme.
The NSW, Queensland, South Australia and ACT governments have all now agreed to deliver the NSCP.
Last month, the Victorian, Western Australian, Tasmanian and the Northern Territory governments committed to deliver the NSCP, meaning schools nationwide will now have the opportunity to participate in the programme.
“Students across the country will benefit from access to the National School Chaplaincy Programme,” Senator the Hon Scott Ryan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, said.
“I thank the education ministers for seeing the merit in this programme for their school communities.”
As outlined in the Australian Government’s original invitation to participate in the NSCP, all states and territories will have to adhere to funding conditions specified by the Commonwealth.
These conditions include that all schools must be invited to apply for funding for a school chaplain, chaplains may be from any faith and chaplains are not permitted to proselytise.
Following the June ruling by the High Court of Australia that payments made under the previous government’s National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Program were invalid, the Commonwealth Government designed the new National School Chaplaincy Programme so that funding is delivered via states and territories, rather than directly to schools.