The weekend's ACT Labor conference passed two motions relating to Ms Burch's education portfolio after months of criticism by stakeholders including the Australian Education Union, ACT Council of Parents & Citizens Associations and Save Our Schools.

The conference discussed Ms Burch's oversight of non-government school registration, and one delegate - believed to have links with the AEU - moved a motion that community and stakeholder groups be enabled to appeal if they opposed a new private school being approved in Canberra.

Late last year, Ms Burch gave approval in principle to Brindabella Christian College establishing a second campus in Charnwood and the Canberra Christian School starting a second campus in Molonglo.

At issue are the public consultation and transparency of the decisions, as well as low demonstrated demand for the schools and, more recently, the impartiality of the registration board.

The motion to allow community appeals was later watered down by another delegate, believed to work in Ms Burch's office, to the ACT government considering administrative and legislative changes to applications for approval in principal of non-government schools.

On the issue of school autonomy, the same delegate moved that the directorate conduct a review on the comparative results of students ''before and after'' the implementation of the initiative to empower school leadership. This was watered down to the government reviewing the project ''with particular regard to school outcomes and budgets''.

Union ACT branch secretary Glenn Fowler said on the private school registration issue ''it's a very positive thing that the Labor Party is calling on the minister to give full consideration to administrative changes and, crucially, legislative changes. The AEU is strongly of the view that there must be significant changes, including changes to the Education Act, so this situation cannot occur again.''

He said the lack of appeal rights for all stakeholders was a serious concern given ''millions of dollars in public money is set to flow to private institutions which have not adequately demonstrated that they would be a good investment''.

The union had ''expected the ALP conference to take a keen interest in this matter as their own policy platform states that ACT public school sites like the former Charnwood High School will not be used to house non-government schools like the Brindabella Christian College,'' Mr Fowler said.

Save Our Schools convener Trevor Cobbold said the conference had provided ''a clear rebuff to the Minister for Education for her inept handling of the process for approving new private schools in Canberra. The acid is now on the minister to make legislative and regulatory changes to ensure that potential impact of new private schools on existing schools is thoroughly assessed and that there is robust evidence of community demand for new schools.''

Ms Burch said both motions, which passed unanimously, had ''affirmed the ACT government's position on both issues''.

''In the case of the motion about in-principle approval of non-government schools, I am pleased the party unanimously supported the amended motion, which noted that I have already commenced a review into the processes and procedures surrounding in-principle approvals. The motion also noted that I have already asked the Education and Training Directorate to make documentation more accessible to ensure maximum transparency around the process.''