SchoolNews The Conversation 25 March 2025
Rachel Wilson, University of Technology Sydney & Sofia Kesidou, University of Sydney examine the fine print in the new school funding agreement.
Queensland and the federal government have reached an agreement on school funding. This means all Australian states and territories are now signed up to new arrangements, which officially began at the start of 2025.
The agreement follows more than a year of negotiations between the federal and state governments.
The agreements mean government schools will receive 25% of funding from the federal government, up from 20%. Cash-strapped state and territory governments now only have to find 75% (down from 80%).
In some good news for schools, it also means there is now a firm plan to “fully fund” public schools by 2034. This means they will get 100% of the funding recommended by the schooling resource standard (or school funding mechanism) – albeit more than a decade after it was first recommended by the Gonski review in 2011.
Much of the debate about the agreements has understandably focused on the funding split between federal and state governments.
But the agreements also tie vital funding for schools to specific targets and reforms for the next ten years. There is plenty of fine print.
Read here
