The Australian Government has now reached agreements with every state and territory to put all public schools on a path to full and fair funding.
The Government said it has delivered on its promise to work with states and territories to put all schools on a path to full and fair funding as set out in David Gonski’s review.
As part of these Agreements, the Commonwealth will provide an additional 5 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) to all states and territories, with the exception of the Northern Territory.
This will lift the Commonwealth’s contribution from 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the SRS by 2034.
For the Northern Territory, the Commonwealth’s contribution will lift from 20 per cent to 40 per cent of the SRS by 2029.
This will see an estimated $16.5 billion in additional Commonwealth funding to public schools across the nation over the next 10 years.
This represents the biggest new investment in public schools by the Australian Government – ever.
“Building Australia’s Future means investing in the next generation,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. “That’s why every dollar of this funding will go into helping children learn.”
“We know that education opens the doors of opportunity, and we want to widen them for every child in Australia. This is about investing in real reform with real funding – so Australian children get the best possible education.”
As part of the Agreements, the provision allowing jurisdictions to claim 4 per cent of SRS funding for indirect school costs such as capital depreciation will be replaced with funding on eligible expenses.
Unlike the previous school funding agreement reached by the former government, this is not a blank cheque.
This funding will be tied to the reforms needed to lift education standards across the country, including more individualised support for students, mandating evidenced-based teaching practices, and more mental health support in schools.
Reforms include:
- Year 1 phonics and early years of schooling numeracy checks to identify students in the early years of school who need additional help.
- Evidence-based teaching and targeted and intensive supports such as small-group or catch-up tutoring to help students who fall behind.
- Initiatives that support wellbeing for learning – including greater access to mental health professionals.
- Access to high-quality and evidence-based professional learning, and
- Initiatives that improve the attraction and retention of teachers.
In addition to these reforms, the Agreements have targets, including that by 2030 the proportion of students receiving a Year 12 Certificate will be the highest it has ever been. Other targets include:
- Reducing the proportion of students in the NAPLAN ‘Needs Additional Support’ proficiency level for reading and numeracy by 10 per cent by 2030.
- Increasing the proportion of students in the ‘Strong’ and ‘Exceeding’ proficiency levels for reading and numeracy by 10 per cent by 2030 and trend upwards for priority equity cohorts in the ‘Strong’ and ‘Exceeding’ proficiency levels.
- Increasing the Student Attendance Rate, nationally, to 91.4 per cent (2019 level) by 2030.
- Increasing the engagement rate (completed or still enrolled) of initial teacher education students by 10 percentage points to 69.7 per cent by 2035.
This means more help for students and more support for teachers. It has taken too long, but all public schools in the country are now on a path to the full and fair funding level set by David Gonski more than a decade ago.
Minister for Education Jason Clare said it is an historic day for Australia’s education system.
“We have now reached agreements with every state and territory to put all schools on a path to full and fair funding,” he said.
“This is a game‑changer for public education and it’s a life‑changer for our kids at school today, kids that will be at school in the next few years, and children that aren’t even born yet.
He continued: “This will see on average a 70 per cent increase in Commonwealth funding per student when this is fully implemented. This is real funding tied to real reform to get real results.”
