Food or school: Harrowing choice facing Qld families

The return of school will add significant financial stress to Queenslanders, with some schools charging thousands of dollars for uniforms and supplies.

Queensland families are being forced to choose between food, rent and fuel over rising school costs, new data from The SmithFamily reveals.

Cost-of-living pressures are now hitting families ahead of a return to school later this month, with parents and carers being forced to fork out hundreds of dollars on supplies, resulting in charities being inundated with requests for help.

The Smith Family chief executive Doug Taylor said it was the second consecutive year families had raised significant concerns about affordability of school items.

A survey run by the charity found 45.6 per cent of respondents feared their children would miss out on uniforms and shoes,up from 29.7 per cent in 2023.

“The families we support make impossible decisions every day about how to prioritise the limited resources they have,” Mr Taylor said.

“Housing, food, and power are top of the list, but the cost of these essentials have all risen rapidly, meaning educational essentials like uniforms, books, a laptop and the internet are increasingly hard to afford. Even with parents working more than one job and doing more hours than ever to make ends meet, there is often not enough left over to afford their child’s school essentials.”

Queensland families have been smashed with cost increases across most expenses during the past three years.

This week, an investigation by The Courier-Mail revealed the cost of groceries had almost doubled in three years.

Across the board, annual inflation in Queensland was at 5.2 per cent, according to the latest figures for the September quarter.

Mr Taylor called on the government to address affordable housing and homelessness, which have “direct implications for a child’s ability to access quality education”.

He said a focus on learning through digital devices such as laptops or iPads was resulting in more children being marginalised.

About half of respondents to The Smith Family’s survey said their children were likely to miss out on the digital devices needed for schoolwork due to cost, while one in six raised concerns about providing internet access.

The Smith Family chief executive Doug Taylor.

The Smith Family on Wednesday will launch its Back to School Appeal, calling on Australians to sponsor a child to help them “thrive at school and beyond”.

It aims to find 6700 new sponsors for its Learning for Life education support program providing financial, emotional and practical support for students experiencing disadvantage.

New research by the Futurity Investment Group has also detailed how much Queensland families would fork out for 13 years of education.

The latest research revealed Brisbane families would pay about $85,177 across 13 years for a child starting prep in 2024 ata public school, an increase of $4758 compared to last year.

It estimated Brisbane parents would spend $1535 on outside tuition, $214 on school fees, $843 on musical instruments, $721on transport and $603 on electronic devices in 2024 alone.

However, it pales in comparison to Catholic and independent sector parents, with Futurity Investment Group estimating the total costs to be a respective $204,197 and $277,015.

Chief executive Sam Sondhi said the costs associated with education were placing a substantial burden on many families.

“Households are already stretched by spiralling cost-of–living and interest rate pressures,” he said.

“With less discretionary money to spend, it’s going to be a challenge for many families to pay for the total cost of education.

“It’s forecast school fees and a host of major school expenses including outside tuition, school camps, transport, uniforms,electronic devices and sports equipment will increase upwards of 14 per cent in the next five years, and by almost 30 percent in the next decade.

“Parents who have planned and saved for education will be in a better position in the long run and will be able to exploreand afford choice when it comes to their children’s education.”