There are over twenty programs operating in Australian schools which have ties to weapons companies, wouldn’t it be great if the Department of Education banned them?
We think so too, and that’s precisely where we started.
Unfortunately, because this sort of thing is managed at the state level, that means that a policy change would be needed in each state and territory individually. When we came to this work, only the ACT had a policy that recommended against engaging in industry partnerships, sponsorships, or other arrangements with weapons companies (it actually says “armaments” which we found delightfully old fashioned).
On the bright side, there is precedent for such a policy, as certain industries are already banned in most states from having any “commercial relationships” with schools. These include tobacco, alcohol, gambling, and in some places, junk food. So thankfully for us (and for the children), we have already decided as a society that certain industries simply have no place in schools. Seems like a no-brainer to add weapons companies to that list right?
Now it starts to get tricky. Most of us who have been involved in grass roots activism before are probably familiar with two main types of campaign – the kind where you are trying to get a corporation to do or cease doing something, and the kind where you are trying to get the Government to do or cease doing something. But Departmental policies are not passed by Parliament, for all the world they seem to just spring into being fully formed – and it is not always clear who even has the authority, let alone the responsibility, to change or update them.
Cut to the annual national meeting of the Teachers Federation, July 2023. There is excitement in the air because everyone knows that a large anti-AUKUS motion will be put to the floor in the afternoon session. Who can say whether Department apparatchiks knew this and made a move to try to clear the air, but we received the news that morning that NSW had amended their sponsorships policy to add weapons companies to the prohibited industries list!
Queensland and Victoria soon followed, making these weapons-affiliated programs in breech of policy in all of the Eastern states of the mainland (best believe we’re coming for Tassie next!). This will be particularly awkward for iSTEM, an initiative of the Department itself.
While we harbour no illusions the campaign will continue to ensure that these policy developments are enforced, the Eastern states are home to roughly 80% of the continent’s population – and we now have policy in our tool kit for fighting the influence of the military industrial complex in the classroom.
