Greens pledge $800 in ‘back to school’ money for every state school student

The cost of a free education is the focus of the Greens’ first election pledge of 2025, as the crossbench party promises $800 for every child to cover charges levied by public schools.

The announcement will become a part of negotiations with the major parties if neither can form a government after the federal election.

Greens leader Adam Bandt and Senator Penny Allman-Payne.Credit: Rhett Wyman

As part of the policy, parents would receive $800 for every child attending a public school to help with out-of-pocket such as uniforms, technology and school supplies.

Additionally, as part of the Greens plan to abolish public school fees, they propose additional funding of $2.4 billion over the four-year budget forward estimates.

The announcement is the latest of the Greens’ proposed “Robin Hood reforms” – a pledge from leader Adam Bandt in August last year to impose a 40 per cent tax on excessive profits of major corporations.

Bandt said parents were currently forking out thousands for voluntary fees such as uniforms and technology but argued one in three big corporations pay no tax.

“Governments are underfunding our public schools and shifting the costs onto parents already struggling with the cost of living. We can’t keep voting for the same two parties and expecting a different result,” he said in a statement.

“Taxing the big corporations to fully fund our public schools, scrapping so-called ‘voluntary’ fees and securing back-to-school payments will be on the table in a minority parliament.”

The combination of the $800 payment and abolishing school fees would save an average family $2500 a year, according to the Greens’ costings.

Greens education spokeswoman, Senator Penny Allman-Payne, said state school teachers were dipping into their own savings to fund classroom basics.

“When I was a teacher I regularly spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars of my own salary to give my students the resources they needed, and I know parents do the same,” she said.

“Public schools typically get more than $400 from parents for each student enrolled – not because they want to charge fees, but because they aren’t adequately funded.”

The Robin Hood reforms proposed three different taxes. The first is a 40 per cent tax imposed on excessive profits after the first $100 million.

The second tax would be on gas and oil companies, which the Parliamentary Budget Office predicted would raise $111 billion over the next decade. The third would be an extra tax on the coal and mining sector.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers previously dismissed the Robin Hood reforms, arguing that the Greens should support the government’s cost-of-living measures.

“The Greens, their primary task is to make up numbers and put out press releases,” he said in August.

“We actually have to run the place, run the economy and run the country, and that means taking a responsible and methodical approach to policy.”

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