A new national education authority is key to the Rudd government's plan to introduce a national curriculum and rank schools according to performance, Education Minister Julia Gillard says.
The commonwealth, states and territories agreed to the establishment of the statutory authority at today's Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Perth.
"The new authority will be the key driver of the Australian government's education revolution," Ms Gillard said in a statement.
"It will be responsible for delivering the national curriculum initiative and the transparency and performance reporting agenda announced by the prime minister (in August)."
Labor plans to tie federal funding to new league-style tables that will compare schools' performances with rivals.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today said he welcomed the National Curriculum Board, established in April, becoming a statutory authority under commonwealth legislation.
"We have also decided through that legislation to bring together the functions of national curriculum, assessment and data management, analysis and reporting at a national level," the prime minister told reporters in Perth.
Details of the new authority, including its name, will be determined in discussions with the states and territories and formalised in legislation introduced by the end of the year, a spokeswoman for Ms Gillard said.
