How are Australian schools funded?
Around $86.7 billion is spent on educating children and young people in all Australian schools annually.
School funding is a shared responsibility between federal, state and territory governments and parental contributions in non-government schools.
State and territory governments are transitioning to provide 75 per cent of the School Resourcing Standard (SRS) for government schools and the federal government 25 per cent.
In the non-government sector, parent contributions reduce the level of government funding by about 25 per cent in Catholic schools. Of the remaining share, the federal government provides 80 per cent, and state and territory governments provide 20 per cent.
The funding must be spent directly on students, staff and operating costs, not capital works projects e.g. a new building. Government school capital costs are mainly funded by state governments with a small contribution from parents.
What about Capital Funding?
Non-government schools have reduced access to capital and infrastructure funding and rely on private income – loans, parent and private contributions.
In 2023, Catholic school families contributed $2.37 billion on capital projects.
How is the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) calculated?
The SRS benchmark establishes the minimum cost – known as ‘Base Funding’ – of educating a student. Every student regardless of where they go to school gets the same base funding – $13,977 for a primary student and $17,565 for a secondary student.
Non-government schools are then means tested to determine how much the parents of students are expected to contribute – known as the ‘Capacity to Contribute’ – and government funding is then reduced accordingly. Six priorities then receive additional funding – known as ‘Loadings’ – to support students with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, socio-educational disadvantage, low-English proficiency, as well as disadvantage due to school size and school location.
For more information on school funding visit www.keepfundingfair.org.au
Authorised by J Collins, National Catholic Education Commission, Level 3, 156 Gloucester Street, Sydney.