Your government will protect you -- again

A rapist and more than 40 other sex offenders have had their bans on working with children overturned so they can pursue jobs that will bring them into contact with youngsters. The convicted criminals have applied over the past 12 months to be removed from the New South Wales prohibited person list so they can take up jobs with or near children, The Daily Telegraph has learned.

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information show a 41-year-old man convicted of indecently assaulting a nine-year-old girl has been approved to work unsupervised with children and young people. The man - who was convicted in 2005 - went to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal to get lifted the ban on working with children.

In another case a man, 49, who as a 23-year-old raped a woman, 27, after assaulting her in a park, has won the right to take a job as a bus driver, bringing him into contact with children. He had chased the woman as she walked her dog at night, then pulled her into long grass where he had sex with her. The man received a six-year jail sentence.

The Administrative Decisions Tribunal, imposing conditions requiring him to see a psychiatrist and banning him from smoking cannabis, said it was satisfied he did not pose "a real and appreciable risk to children".

But the tribunal refused to lift a working-with-children ban on a doctor who indecently assaulted female patients during medical consultations. It said: "... there is a real risk that the applicant might physically or verbally abuse children if he were to return to child-related employment."

Figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph show bans on 29 sex offenders were lifted in 2005-2006 by the Commission for Children and Young People, 13 were lifted by the Administrative Decisions Tribunal and one by the Industrial Relations Commission. In 2004-2005 31 sex offenders had bans lifted by the CCYP, eight by the ADT and one by the IRC. The data show sex offenders continue to thumb their nose at the system despite revelations in The Daily Telegraph more than a year ago that perverts were seeking jobs as school bus drivers, teachers, sports coaches and even youth workers.

It is more than year since the Iemma Government flagged new laws outlawing sex offenders from working with children. NSW Commissioner for Children and Young People Gillian Calvert said the legislation took effect this month strengthening the check system. "Approvals to change a Prohibited Person status are not granted lightly," she said.

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REVIVAL OF ENGLISH LITERATURE STUDY?



The Bard may soon return to Queensland schools as the Federal Government considers making Shakespeare compulsory for English students. Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop said the compulsory study of Shakespeare was one of a range of options being considered for English students. Ms Bishop, expected to step up her overhaul of Australian education this year, said that for centuries schoolchildren had been enriched by the English playwright. She was considering reintroducing the Bard as a compulsory part of the English curriculum, she said. "I would say that is one option. But English itself is not even compulsory in Queensland schools at the moment," she said.

Ms Bishop has indicated a willingness to use federal funding as a bargaining chip to force states to improve curriculums. She wants English and history reintroduced as compulsory subjects across the nation. Ms Bishop noted British research released this week showing Shakespearean language "excites the brain".

Ms Bishop said Shakespeare's plays were not the only literary classics she wanted back in the classroom. Australian literature from Banjo Paterson to Patrick White also could enrich young minds, as opposed to "deconstructing that trashy reality show Big Brother".

The Federal Government has backed its belief in the Bard with a $50,0000 investment in the Bell Shakespeare Regional Teacher Scholarships program, which kicks off this year. The investment will provide 12 English teachers from regional and remote schools with a program to build expertise in bringing Shakespeare to life.

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When government schools are no good ....

There is a huge demand for private education in Australia in a desperate attempt to escape Left-run non-education in State-government schools. Around 40% of Australian teenagers are now sent to private schools. But huge demand forces up prices -- as it always does. Australia's most famous conservative government -- the Menzies (Federal) administration -- long ago instituted a semi-voucher system by giving grants to private schools -- thus going over the heads of the State governments. Federal grants to private schools are however still much less per head than what State governments spend on their schools

Some of Sydney's most prestigious private schools are charging parents as much as $4000 in non-refundable fees to enrol their children, on top of tuition fees that can cost more than $20,000. Annual fees for senior students this year will be as high as $21,117 at Cranbrook, $20,967 at Kambala, $20,913 at King's and $20,826 at Sydney Grammar. At Cranbrook School, a non-refundable enrolment fee of $4615 is payable on acceptance of a place. Parents must also pay a non-refundable fee of $300 to make an enrolment application. The school generates about $1 million each year from enrolment fees and more than $23 million in tuition fees. Under its funding arrangements for private schools, the Federal Government no longer takes into account the amount of non-refundable fee income a school generates.

Lyndsay Connors, who heads the NSW Public Education Council, said schools were no longer penalised for the extra income. "This kind of impost by private schools on parents would normally be their own business," she said. "But in this country, these schools are not only provided with public funding, but with ever-increasing amounts of it. The least they could be required to do is let all of us shareholders know what all this public and private money is being spent on. What exactly are we subsidising?"

St Ignatius' College, Riverview, charges a non-refundable enrolment fee of $4000, King's $3600 and Sydney Grammar $3470. Loreto Normanhurst and Loreto Kirribilli each charge $3000 and Abbotsleigh $1720. St Andrew's Cathedral School charges a non-refundable enrolment fee of $2000 a family. Overseas students are also required to pay an enrolment bond of $18,500 and a NSW Board of Studies charge of $700 for each year 12 student sitting the HSC. Sydney Church of England Grammar School (Shore) charges students $1000 to enrol and another $2000 to confirm the enrolment. Both are non-refundable and in addition to annual fees. Year 11 and 12 students pay a total of $37,950 over two years, paid in five instalments.

Its headmaster, Timothy Wright, said the fee was designed to deter parents from making an application if they did not seriously intend to enrol their child. "You might find parents put their names down at four or five schools and four of those schools make plans for that child arriving," Dr Wright said. "If a school suddenly found that 10 per cent of their expected enrolments didn't come, they would have a serious problem." Dr Wright said income from non-refundable fees helped fund the sizeable costs associated with running the enrolment office.

The Association of Independent Schools' executive director, Geoff Newcombe, said non-refundable fees were intended to provide certainty for parents and schools and to discourage parents from making multiple applications. "In many cases, a late withdrawal means that the school would have difficulty in filling that place for a term or two - even though they have waiting lists - because the parents have enrolled in another school," Dr Newcombe said. "Many schools use that as a contribution towards the school's capital fund and towards the bursary scholarship fund."

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AMERICA TO GET THE NATIONAL FOOD OF THE WORLD'S MOST LONG LIVED MAJOR COUNTRY

A war is brewing in the US between Australia's humble meat pie and America's hot dog. Two major Australian meat pie companies, Four'N Twenty and Vili's, have launched grand expansion plans in the US designed to win over American tastebuds. In the not too distant future in Manhattan, Aussie meat pie carts will compete on busy street corners with the city's famous hot dog stands. Vending machines will sit alongside Coke and chip machines offering hot meat pies for hungry Americans on the go. Sports venues such as New York's Yankee Stadium or Los Angeles Lakers' Staples Centre will smell like the MCG or SCG, with American sports fans offered the Aussie meat pie in addition to the traditional hot dog, nachos or hamburger.

At stake are billions in export dollars for Melbourne-based Four'N Twenty and Adelaide's Vili's. "It's the greatest Western market in the world and it's untapped," says Joshua Kearney, who is leading the push by Vili's in the US. "There are a few people in the US here and there that make their little boutique pies, but there's no one like Vili's who can do it on our scale."

Despite the size of the US, with its 300 million residents, the meat pie is a stranger to Americans. When Americans think "pie", it is dessert, whether it's an apple, pumpkin or banana cream pie. Many turn their noses up at the thought of meat in a pie and both companies agree the key is getting curious Americans to taste a meat pie. "Right now, Americans can get a hot pocket or Jamaican beef patty, but when they eat the Australian product their first comment is: 'Well, it tastes really good'," says Florida-based Edward Beshara, who is heading Four'N Twenty's expansion into the US.

Vili's Kearney, based in Las Angeles, has had a similar experience. "We have to tell Americans it's a savoury and not a sweet," he says. "We tell them it's like a shepherd's pie, because there are a lot of Irish and British descendants in America, they understand that."

Americans also take a different approach to tasting a meat pie. "They always want to break it open and have a look at what's inside," Kearney says. "They're worried about what's in it and ask you 10 times over exactly what's in it. "You tell them it's beef and they ask: 'What cut of beef?"'

Expat Australians are not so picky. Vili's sold 4000 pies for $US7.50 each to the mostly Australian fans at last year's G'day LA AFL exhibition match between the Sydney Swans and the Kangaroos in Los Angeles. Vili's stocks were sold out before half-time, an amazing feat when the crowd for the game was just 3000.

Four'N Twenty and Vili's will be spreading the word today in Los Angeles at one of the key G'day USA Australia Week events at the Australian Made Food and Wine Trade Expo. Their pies will be among 200 Australian food products showcased for 400 representatives from some of America's largest supermarkets and retailers. The two previous G'Day food expos have generated more than $1 million in new sales in the US for Australian companies. "Typically, pie exporters think the key challenge to them will be overcoming US food and labelling regulations," says Australian Trade Commissioner in Los Angeles Kylie Hargreaves. "In fact, the key obstacles are the American consumer's lack of familiarity with meat pies and then the sheer scale of the US marketplace. "Managing your production and distribution channels in the US is normally what makes or breaks an Aussie pie exporter."

Kearney, the 27-year-old chief executive of his family's company, Aussie Imports, which has the US rights to distribute Vili's products, has secured a key distribution deal with American food giant US Foodservices. "They have 78 distribution centres across America, so that will give us some serious penetration in restaurants, pubs, clubs, sports venues," Kearney says. "Anyone across America will be able to get a Vili's pie." Kearney is also teaming up with Hollywood celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck to offer Vili's pies in LA's premier indoor sports arena, Staples Centre, which is home to the LA Lakers and Clippers basketball teams and ice-hockey team the LA Kings.

Four'N Twenty's Beshara is also pursuing US sports stadium deals, as well as race tracks, convenience stores, airlines, universities and amusement parks. "We are working on that (sports stadiums) right now," Beshara, an Australian who has lived in the US for 27 years and owns the Four'N Twenty US distribution rights through his company OzePie, says. "With a lot of the stadium feeding now they're trying to incorporate all different types of cuisine, whether it's from different cultures or even a different twist on American comfort food." Beshara also has the US rights to another Australian food icon, Pavlova Pantry.

Vili's and Four'N Twenty will also tempt Americans with sausage rolls and pasties. "We're bringing in the traditional meat pie, the beef and cheese, beef and BBQ, a pie with no trans-fat, sausage rolls, pasties and the party versions," Beshara says. Vili's and Four'N Twenty also hosed down talk they were bitter rivals in the US. "We're competitors in Australia, but we don't see it the same way in the US," Kearney says. "It's a huge market in the US with 300 million people. We could do business here happily and not even see each other."

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