The extent of inequity in Australia’s school funding has been revealed in new research, showing that more than half of private schools in New South Wales now receive more combined Government funding (Commonwealth and State) per student than public schools of very similar size, location and with similar student needs.
The Australian Education Union report is being released as Commonwealth, State and Territory leaders gather today for the National Cabinet.
Using school finance data, the AEU report ‘A Decade of Inequity’ reveals:
- In 2013, there were 394 private schools in NSW that received more combined Government funding (Commonwealth and State) than comparable public schools. By 2022, this had increased to 536 private schools.
- This is an increase from 46.7% of private schools to 59.6% receiving more government funding than comparable public schools over the decade to 2022.
- In 2013 there were 139 private schools in the ICSEA 1050+ group (which includes the top quartile of Socio-Educational Advantage) funded higher than comparable public schools and by 2022 this had increased to 217 schools – an increase of 56%.
- In the top 15% of SEA (in the 1100+ ICSEA range) private schools receiving greater government funding than comparable public schools have increased from 44 to 82 over the last decade – an increase of 85%.
The report compares the combined Commonwealth and State/Territory Government recurrent funding as reported by ACARA for comparable public and private schools. Its key findings reveal entrenched and increasing inequities in the funding of New South Wales private and public schools.
The report uses a strict methodology based on the level of Socio-Educational Advantage, school location, and school size to determine comparable public and private schools.
Five conditions must be met for schools to be considered comparable to ensure that only schools of the same type, with very similar student parental and household characteristics, of similar size and in the same jurisdiction are compared.
AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe said the shock findings underlined the urgent need for public schools to be fully funded by all governments.
“Some private schools in New South Wales are receiving up to $6,219 per student more in government funding than similar public schools with very similar student profiles, in some cases those schools are just around the corner from each other.”
“This unfair private school funding advantage translates into a school resourcing and staffing advantage and has fuelled a private school capital works boom, while at the same time denying public schools the recurrent funding needed to attract and retain teachers and to address the high level of student needs in the classroom.”
President of NSW Teachers’ Federation, Henry Rajendra said; “Right now, school funding for the next decade is being negotiated between the Commonwealth and the New South Wales Government. The urgency is clear and we call on Premier Chris Minns to fight hard for New South Wales’ public school students in these negotiations.
“Public schools in New South Wales educate proportionally 2.6 times the number of students from low socio-educational advantage backgrounds compared to private schools, and 2.9 times the number of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander students. Currently our schools are not getting the funding they need to meet students’ needs.
“The challenges are too great and the cost of inaction too high for governments to continue to fail on funding.
“Full funding is the only way to ensure every child gets the support they need to succeed, and we can recruit and retain sufficient numbers of teachers. We need the Albanese Government and the Minns government to deliver a funding agreement that provides a full 100% of the SRS for all public schools. Anything less will fail New South Wales’ public schools and their students”