The Australian government has announced the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, hailed as the "biggest investment in schools in our nation's history." With this landmark agreement comes a significant infusion of resources to the nation’s public schools. Beginning in 2025, it will pump an extra $16.5 billion into federal funding. This fundamental goal, bridging the “funding shortfall,” has existed for years within public education. Queensland is the last of the states and territories to sign up to this historic agreement. The second phase is for the Commonwealth to raise its share of public school funding from 20 percent to 25 percent.
Queensland’s public schools are in line for a huge windfall, with an additional $2.8 billion to be pumped into the system over the next 10 years. This increase will benefit at least 560,000 of the state’s nearly 1 million public school students. The agreement aims to fully fund every public school student in Australia, ensuring equitable access to quality education across the nation.
Addressing Funding Shortfalls
The Coalition's Gonski 2.0 reforms had previously required states to fund public schools at 75 percent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) on top of the federal government's 20 percent, leaving a 5 percent gap. Usually, public schools in each Australian state and territory, except the ACT, have experienced extreme under-funding. This crisis has made it virtually impossible for them to provide students with even the most basic quality education.
"Today, we reach the point for the first time in Australian history where every student, public and private, will be delivered the school funding that they deserve, the school resourcing standard that was identified by David Gonski more than a decade ago," stated Anthony Albanese.
The Better and Fairer Schools Agreement would go a long way to closing this gap by delivering significant new funding to improve educational opportunity. Queensland has been in crisis over poor NAPLAN results for years. This agreement is a huge step in the right direction for raising student performance.
Ambitious Targets for Educational Excellence
The deal establishes high aspirations to raise education achievement across the country. By 2030, it wants to have the greatest share of students graduate from high school — ever. It seeks to cut the proportion of students requiring “substantial additional support” in NAPLAN by 10 percent. It aims to increase the share of students reaching “strong” and “exceeding” levels of proficiency in reading and math by 10 percent.
"It isn't a blank cheque, this money is tied to real reforms like evidence-based teaching practices, phonics and numeracy checks, catch-up tutoring and more mental health support," emphasized Sarah Henderson.
These reforms help with year 1 phonics and numeracy checks that identify students who are falling behind. They include targeted catch-up support, wellbeing initiatives and schemes to boost teacher retention and reduce workloads. These actions aim to foster a positive and stimulating learning environment for all Australian students.
A Collaborative Effort
Once negotiations are completed, the Queensland government and the Commonwealth will sign the final agreement. This event is a beginning of their collective movement to redefine the educational experience. This funding will go a long way toward improving outcomes for students. Not only will it increase satisfaction levels among teachers, it will help with teacher retention.
"The biggest-ever investment in Queensland public schools by the Commonwealth," remarked Anthony Albanese.
This sentiment was echoed by David Crisafulli, who described it as "the biggest investment in schools in our nation's history." The comprehensive approach to reform underscores a commitment to evidence-based teaching practices and increased support for both students and educators.
