In April 1989, State, Territory and Commonwealth Ministers of Education met as the Australian Education Council (AEC) in Hobart. [The AEC has since been subsumed into MCEETYA]. Ministers made an historic commitment to improving Australian schooling within a framework of national collaboration by reaching agreement to address the areas of common concern embodied in the ten Common and Agreed National Goals for Schooling in Australia.

The national goals for schooling provided, for the first time, a framework for cooperation between schools, States, Territories and the Commonwealth. They were intended to assist schools and systems to develop specific objectives and strategies, particularly in the areas of curriculum and assessment.

The Hobart Declaration, which included the Common and Agreed National Goals for Schooling in Australia, was released by Ministers following the Adelaide meeting in 1989 (as a doublesided A3 poster). The Common and Agreed National Goals for Schooling in Australia were then reproduced and reported against each year in the annual National Report on Schooling in Australia.

http://www.curriculum.edu.au/mceetya/publicat/pub340.htm