Australian Education Union to campaign against underfunding NT schools

A national education leader has slammed the NT and Australian governments for underfunding Territory schools.

Northern Territory public schools are the most underfunded in the country, with one in five students not financially supported.

The latest My School financial data has revealed NT government schools are currently funded at 80.6 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard, which is the minimum amount both commonwealth and state and territory governments agreed to.

To meet this minimum, an extra $227m in funding is needed.

To address this the Australian Education Union has launched its For Every Child campaign in hopes of securing full funding by 2028.

Australian Education Union federal president Correna Haythorpe is calling for increased funding for the Territory’s public schools.

AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe said the Territory’s level of underfunding was the worst in the country.

“Effectively there is no funding for one in five students and, right now, the Fyles and Albanese governments have no plan to fix this,” she said.

“Teachers and principals are being asked to do too much with too little.

“We need a new agreement between the federal and NT governments that ensures all public schools are funded to 100 per cent of the SRS by 2028.

“As part of that the Albanese government needs to lift its share from 21.6 per cent of the SRS to 40 per cent of the SRS.”

The AEU’s analysis of MySchool financial data revealed government funding for the Territory’s public schools and private schools increased in real terms by 7.7 per cent and 43.3 per cent respectively.

The data also showed private schools in the Territory spent double per student what public schools did on capital works between 2012 and 2021.

Australian Education Union NT president Michelle Ayres said every NT school needed to be funded based on enrolment, not attendance.

The campaign calls for full funding, therefore allowing for increased one-on-one support for students with additional needs, reduced class sizes and more classroom assistance for teachers.

AEU NT President Michelle Ayres said the campaign would provide better education outcomes for Territory kids while attracting and retaining more teachers.

“The Territory has the most amazing teachers and principals and if we fully fund their schools they can do so much more,” she said.

“We need every NT school fully funded based on enrolment not attendance.”

Education Minister Eva Lawler said $557 million from the NT’s 2023 budget went to government school funding. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Education Minister Eva Lawler said she was working with federal Education Minister Jason Clare to give Territory students the same facilities and programs as the rest of the country.

Ms Lawler said $40m of federal funding provided to schools this year in the Central region for the On-Country Learning measure had been calculated according to enrolment data, not effective enrolment data.

“In the Territory’s 2023 Budget, $557m went directly to government school funding,” she said.

“Our future rests in the hands of young Territorians and we know that education is the answer to enable them to learn, grow and thrive in their community.”