The National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) has welcomed the announcement by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus KC MP today that the government will make amendments to copyright laws to apply to lessons delivered online.
National Catholic education executive director Jacinta Collins said the reforms will support Catholic school communities to deliver quality learning and teaching.
“Remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic brought to light shortcomings in the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) that exposed teachers, students and families to copyright breaches in the online learning space.
“While these issues predated the pandemic, it did highlight the urgent need for reform given contemporary learning environments, and the needs of students in remote communities,” Ms Collins said.
“In the digital age, it is critical that our school communities can utilise copyrighted material for educational purposes, whether in the classroom or through online learning platforms.
“We call on the Parliament to pass these important reforms as quickly as possible and acknowledge the concerted efforts of the National Copyright Unit and the education sector for contributing to development of these reforms.”
Catholic education is the largest provider of education in Australia outside of government, enrolling one in five, or 805,000 students and employing over 109,000 staff in 1,756 schools.
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