The extent of inequity in Australia’s school funding has been revealed in new research, showing that almost double the number of private schools in Tasmania now receive more combined Government funding (Commonwealth and State) than public schools of very similar size, location and with similar student needs. 

The Australian Education Union report is being released as Commonwealth, State and Territory leaders gather today for the National Cabinet. 

Using school finance data, the AEU report ‘A Decade of Inequity’ reveals:

The AEU report ‘A Decade of Inequity’ reveals key findings about Tasmanian private and public schools:

• In 2013, there were 6 private schools in Tasmania that received more combined Government funding (Commonwealth and State) than comparable public schools. By 2022, this had increased to 23 private schools 
• This is an increase from 9.2% of private schools to 32.9% over the decade to 2022
• Private secondary schools in the 1000-1049 ICSEA group have had their combined government funding increased by 68.8% from $11,019 to $18,595 per student over the decade from 2013-2022, whilst public schools in the same ICSEA group have seen average funding increase by 40.8%, from $11,474 in 2013 to $16,151 in 2022
• Private secondary schools in the 1000-1049 ICSEA group now receive 115.0% of the government funding that public secondary schools in the same ICSEA group do on a per student basis.
• In 2022 the largest gap between a private and public school in the same ICSEA range and same school size group is $3,104 per student
• Private schools in Tasmania will continue to be overfunded by the Commonwealth and State Governments by a total of $19.6 million from 2024 to 2028 under current arrangements, while public schools will remain underfunded by $601.6 million over the same five year period.

The report compares the combined Commonwealth and State/Territory Government recurrent funding as reported by ACARA for comparable public and private schools.

The report uses a strict methodology based on the level of Socio-Educational Advantage, school location, and school size to determine comparable public and private schools. 

Five conditions must be met for schools to be considered comparable to ensure that only schools of the same type, with very similar student parental and household characteristics, of similar size and in the same jurisdiction are compared.

AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe said the shock findings underlined the urgent need for public schools to be fully funded by all governments:

“Some private schools in Tasmania are receiving up to $3,104 per student more in government funding than similar public schools with very similar student profiles, in some cases those schools are just around the corner from each other.”

“This unfair private school funding advantage translates into a school resourcing and staffing advantage and has fuelled a private school capital works boom, while at the same time denying public schools the recurrent funding needed to attract and retain teachers and to address the high level of student needs in the classroom.”

President of the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Education Union, David Genford said, “Right now, school funding for the next decade is being negotiated between the Commonwealth and the Tasmanian Government. The urgency is clear and we call on Premier Jeremy Rockliff to fight hard for Tasmania’s public school students in these negotiations.”

“Public schools in Tasmania educate proportionally 2.2 times the number of students from low socio-educational advantage backgrounds compared to private schools, and 1.7 times the number of First Nations students. Currently our schools are not getting the funding they need to meet students’ needs.

“The challenges are too great and the cost of inaction too high for governments to continue to fail on funding.”