As the 2025 Federal Election approaches on 3 May, Catholic Education has released a Federal Election Scorecard to highlight where political parties and key independent candidates stand on issues of importance for Catholic schools.
The scorecard rates the education policies and commitments of the Australian Labor Party, the Liberal National Coalition, the Australian Greens, and key independent candidates on:
· Funding certainty
· Support for faith-based schools
· Sector-neutrality
· Addressing disadvantage
· Early childhood education
National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC) Executive Director Jacinta Collins said it’s crucial to cut through the noise of the election campaign to understand what’s really at stake for our families who value the choice of a Catholic school.
“While the major parties largely support our priorities, the Greens received a clear ✗ from us because they leave Catholic schools isolated and excluded from their policy commitments,” Jacinta said.
“Their focus is on public schools alone, and their proposed policies to further top-up public school funding will adversely affect Catholic schools in real terms.
“The Greens have also consistently advocated and voted against Catholic schools having the ability to preference and employ staff who support the Catholic ethos, despite strong and growing public support for faith-based schools.
“The Greens have failed to acknowledge Catholic school families in their proposed measures to ease cost-of-living pressures on families. They assume only families with children in public schools are doing it tough, which is untrue and unfair.
“It’s clear they’re not engaging with the realities faced by the 820,000 students and families we serve,” Jacinta said.
In regard to Climate 200 supported independents, only one has responded without providing enough detail to clearly score their support of Catholic education priorities.
As election day nears, the NCEC is encouraging families and staff to review the scorecard and consider how different parties’ policies align with their values and expectations for an education system that benefits all Australians.
Download the Federal Election Scorecard and read the full responses from parties and candidates via Federal Election Scorecard – NCEC