Public schools need $30bn boost to provide basics, Parliamentary Budget Office report claims

Taxpayers will need to top up school funding by nearly $30 billion over the next decade to provide basic educational resources, a new analysis reveals.

NSW has the biggest funding gap, of $80 million, with Victorian schools short-changed $70 million and Queensland schools underfunded by $61 million. Picture: iStock

Taxpayers will need to top up school funding by nearly $30bn across the next decade to provide basic educational resources, a new analysis reveals.

The Parliamentary Budget Office has produced the first official costing for every Australian school to receive 100 per cent of its “Gonski funding”, the Schooling Resource Standard.

The SRS is an estimate of how much taxpayer funding each school requires to meet its students’ educational needs, based on the funding model devised by businessman David Gonski in 2011.

The PBO calculations show that if the federal government lifted its contribution from 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the SRS, schools would receive an extra $277 million this financial year.

NSW would receive the biggest Commonwealth funding increase, worth $80 million, with Victorian schools receiving $70 million and Queensland schools $61 million.

South Australian schools would receive $19 million more in federal funding, Tasmanian schools $6.2 million, Northern Territory schools $5.6 million and ACT schools $4.2 million.

The annual funding increase would rise to $3.9 billion nationally in 2023/24, and total $29 billion over the next decade.

Federal, state and territory governments spent $72bn on school funding last year.

The federal government provides 20 per cent of SRS funding to public schools – which are operated by state and territory governments – and 80 per cent of SRS funding to private and Catholic schools. Public schools are on track to receive 100 per cent of their SRS by 2029.

The Australian Education Union wants the federal government to increase its share of funding to public schools from 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the SRS, and to achieve 100 per cent funding by 2028.

The PBO estimates this would increase federal debt by $4.4bn across the next decade.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare is refusing to increase the share of federal funds until the states and territories agree to reforms to improve students’ educational outcomes.

The PBO costing, requested by independent MP Andrew Wilkie, shows that state and territory governments have no obligation to fill the funding gap.

“The proposal would increase the Australian government’s share of funding for public schools from approximately 20 per cent of the SRS in 2023 to 25 per cent in 2028,” the PBO states.

“While the Australian government’s funding for public schools is set as a percentage of the SRS, state and territory governments are not obligated to fund the full remaining amount … Therefore, under this policy there is no guarantee that state and territory governments would continue to provide the same levels of public school funding.”