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EMM - NATSIEC Partnership Agreement

NATISEC plays an important role in ensuring the voices, experiences and priorities of First Nations people are reflected in national education policy and decision-making. Our role is supported by the NATSIEC – EMM (Education Ministers Meeting) Partnership Agreement, which formalises our relationship with Education Ministers and recognises the importance of First Nations perspectives in national education policy and reform.  

Through this partnership, NATSIEC engages across the national education architecture, working with governments, education agencies and First Nations organisations to provide advice grounded in the experiences and aspirations of First Nations learners, families and communities.  

Our engagement occurs at different levels of the national system, from early childhood and schooling policy groups through to senior officials and Education Ministers. This allows NATSIEC to contribute First Nations perspectives throughout the policy development and decision-making process, from early discussions about an issue through to national policy decisions.  

NATSIEC and Education Ministers Meeting Partnership Agreement

The EMM Architecture

  • ECPG and SPG are key forums for developing and progressing national early childhood school education policy. They also establish a range of working groups and technical groups to undertake more detailed work on specific reforms and policy issues. These groups are an important part of policy development process, where evidence, expertise and stakeholder perspectives are considered and recommendations are developed before issues progress through the broader education architecture.  

    NATSIEC participates in these groups to ensure First Nations perspectives are embedded throughout the policy development process, rather than being considered only when a policy is nearing finalisation.  

  • AESOC brings together senior education officials from Australian, state and territory governments. It is an important point where policy issues are considered at a senior government level before progressing to Ministers.

  • EMM is the national forum where Education Ministers consider and make decisions on significant education policy and reform matters. NATSIEC’s engagement at Ministerial level provides a direct avenue for First Nations perspectives to inform national education priorities and decisions from cradle to career.  

Significant Impact Pieces

  • NATSIEC has played an active role in the review of the SRS, advocating for greater transparency and accountability in how funding for First Nations students is calculated allocated and monitored. NATISEC has highlighted the need for First Nations-specific funding loadings to be clearly identifiable and traceable, so that resources intended to support First Nations learners can be flowed through the system and their impact monitored.  

    This work reflects NATSIEC’s broader role in advocating for education funding that is equitable, transparent and responsive to the needs of First Nations learners and communities. 

  •  NATSIEC advocates for the experiences of First Nations students to be explicitly recognised in national approaches to bullying, including the relationship between bullying and racism. NATSIEC highlighted the disproportionate impact of racism on First Nations students and the need for anti-bullying approaches to recognise and respond to racism as part of creating culturally safe learning environments.  

    NATSIEC advocated for whole-school approaches to anti-racism, rather than the expectation and responsibility to fall onto First Nations staff, increasing colonial load. This advocacy will help strengthen the recognition of interpersonal racism within national anti-bullying work, ensuring the experiences of First Nations students are considered in approaches to preventing and responding to bullying.