‘Critical support’: Funding push for Indigenous boarding schools after budget cut
A previously axed Indigenous boarding program will sport rural and regional schools once again, with a renewal through to 2026.
Indigenous boarding schools at risk of closure have been brought back from the brink after the Albanese government pledged to refund a discontinued funding program.
In its most recent budget, Labor did not provide additional funding to its $21.6m National Indigenous Australians Agency’s Indigenous Boarding Providers Grant, which supports the schooling and boarding fees of Indigenous students in remote regions.
On Tuesday, it announced the fund would be granted $43.2m to run through 2026.
The prior funding discontinuation left up to 15 schools in regional Australia facing the prospect of freezing enrolments or closing entirely.
The investment is intended to support more than 40 schools and 2500 students.
For many remote communities, especially throughout the Northern Terrirtory, Western Australia and South Australia, boarding schools are one of the only schooling options. Industry body Independent Schools Australia argued the federal government had an obligation to provide sustained funding to Indigenous boarding schools.
“For many First Nations students from remote and very remote areas, boarding school is their only option to engage in education,” said Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy.
“This investment will provide critical support for First Nations boarding students while the government considers the outcomes of the Indigenous boarding design review.”
Schools with more than 40 per cent First Nations students in their boarding demographic will be eligible for the funding.
“This investment in boarding facilities across Australia is about supporting Indigenous school students in remote communities,” said Education Minister Jason Clare.
“It will mean supporting more students to finish school and deliver certainty for providers.”
Tuesday’s funding pledge came a week after the Central Australia Boarding Response Fund provided $18m to schools in Alice Springs.
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