ACT Government Meals in Schools trial, at Richardson Primary School. Photo: James Coleman.
An independent candidate for the upcoming ACT election has questioned whether the Territory Government will be able to fully roll out a program to deliver free meals to public schools.
On Tuesday (30 July), the ACT Government announced a trial of its Meals in Schools program will provide students at five ACT public schools with access to free breakfast and lunch three days a week on each school week until July 2025.
The program was originally promised during the 2020 election campaign.
David Pollard, who is running for the Independents for Canberra party in the Yerrabi electorate, says his daughter’s school, Gold Creek in Gungahlin, had been left disappointed last year.
“I was president of the P&C Committee and we were told halfway through 2023 meals were going to be on the table the next semester. But they never arrived,” Mr Pollard said.
“We were quite excited about it, so we started asking questions, but there was very little detail.
“It’s exactly the same as the roadworks. They’re all conveniently wrapped up in the months before the election, everyone is happy at voting time.
”After the election, the next round of roadworks start and we all sit in congestion and traffic again … it takes an election to make things happen.”
David Pollard has criticised the Meals in Schools program’s delayed delivery. Photo: Dominic Giannini.
The ACT Government says there were reasons for the delay in the Meals in Schools programs.
“Following the October 2021-22 Budget, this initiative was paused throughout the remainder of 2021 and 2022 due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on our school communities,” a spokesperson said.
“In early 2023, five pilot schools were selected and announced, with the pilot intended to commence in term 3, 2023. Unfortunately, this was not possible as efforts to procure a provider to deliver meals in schools during 2023 were unsuccessful. The Education Directorate communicated this delay to schools and their communities in late August and early September 2023.
“Following the additional investment in the 2024-25 Budget, Embrace Disability Group were selected through an open tender process to deliver meals on behalf of the Territory, starting in term 3, 2024.”
Gold Creek School Senior Campus (years 7 to 10) is now one of the five schools benefiting from the program trial, along with Narrabundah Early Childhood School, Richardson Primary, Gilmore Primary and the Melba Copland Secondary School (College campus, years 10 to 12).
Mr Pollard doubts whether many more schools will benefit from the program.
“I’m absolutely supportive of the intent of the Meals in Schools program, but lack of accountability means we get the slowest and most costly outcomes,” he said.
“The five schools that have been announced are getting the food at three times the cost of the initial budget … at that cost I can’t see it going much further.
“We also had the impression that it would include hot meals, but they’re cold meals prepared offsite and shipped into the schools.”
ACT Minister for Education Yvette Berry has said she wanted the program to be universal rather than just targeted at the most disadvantaged students.
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