For more than a decade, AEU members have fought to get public schools funded to 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS). We have fought this battle from the day the Gonski Review was released. Finally now that goal is in sight – with no tricks, no rorts.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese announced in January that the federal government would increase its SRS contribution from 20 per cent to 25 per cent and remove the accounting tricks that let states artificially inflate their SRS contributions by 4 per cent.
A genuine partnership – the Commonwealth will be putting in 25 per cent of the SRS everywhere (except the Northern Territory which will receive 40 per cent) and the states putting in a genuine 75 per cent share. Education is now firmly on the election agenda because of our campaigning. It is an outcome that will be felt for generations.
This announcement of full funding will have ongoing positive benefits for public education and will be a legacy for the Albanese government. We know there is work to be done to finalise the funding agreements across the nation and we cannot rest until we see every public school fully funded.
Across politics, we have had the Australian Greens and many members of the crossbench champion the cause of public schools funding. Senators Jacquie Lambie, Fatima Payman, David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and Tammy Tyrell, and the Greens, have been vocal in their support for public education in the Senate. In the House of Representatives Andrew Wilkie, Sophie Scamps, Kate Chaney, and the Greens, have been vocal about full and fair funding for schools.
So far Peter Dutton has been silent on the prime minister’s commitment to 100 per cent of the SRS with a minimum Commonwealth share of 25 per cent. The election choice is clear: a Labor government that will invest in public schools, a Coalition government that will cut. Public schools on the road to full funding or public schools on the road to nowhere.
The history of Australia’s public school funding is long and complex but to truly understand where we are today, and to understand the risks of a Dutton government to public education in Australia, we must first examine the actions of past Coalition governments. In 2012, the Gonski Review highlighted the disparities in school funding across Australia and called for a new funding model and a new level of cooperation between the Commonwealth and state and territory governments.
The review recommended an SRS – a standard that sets the minimum funding per student required so that schools can have at least 80 per cent of their students achieving learning outcomes above the national minimum standard in NAPLAN for reading and numeracy. This was never an aspirational goal.
The Gillard government then moved towards the implementation of the SRS with agreements designed to lift all schools to at least 95 per cent of the SRS by 2019. But Labor lost the 2013 election, and an Abbott government was elected.
Tony Abbott famously said there would be “no cuts to education” and the Coalition would honour the agreements and match “dollar for dollar” the commitments made by Labor. But his first budget put an end to that with a $30 billion cut to school funding.
In 2017, the Turnbull government ripped up signed Gonski agreements with five governments and changed the law to ensure the Commonwealth was funding 80 per cent of the SRS for private schools and just 20 per cent for public schools. Scott Morrison went further with new bilateral agreements with the states and territories that entrenched inequality and saw 98 per cent of private schools funded at the SRS or above it.
In contrast, only 1.3 per cent of public schools reached the SRS by 2023 – those in the ACT. To make matters worse, Scomo allowed states and the NT to artificially inflate their public school SRS shares by 4 per cent through the inclusion of non-school costs such as capital depreciation.
The Coalition has long believed that the federal government should only fund private schools not public schools and their policies have directly contributed to the growing divide between private and public education. While private schools have reaped the rewards of additional funding, public schools have been denied critical education resources.
We have made significant advances in public school funding under the Albanese government. We cannot allow a Dutton government to take us backwards. Dutton has spent three years attacking and undermining teachers, making clear he will address what he sees as “woke agendas” and “indoctrination”. He has taken a leaf out of Donald Trump’s playbook and wants to tell teachers what to teach and how to teach it. That includes mandating explicit direct instruction in every classroom.
The politicisation of education – such as attacking a “woke agenda”, as Dutton puts it – sends a dangerous message about the role of knowledge in society. In a democratic society, such trends are deeply concerning, as they undermine the principles of free thought and expression. We are seeing this in the US under Donald Trump and the far-right agenda. We can’t let that happen here.
The decisions we make as a country on election day will shape the opportunities and outcomes for future generations. We must ensure that every parent, principal, teacher and support staff knows what is at stake. That means intensive engagement with public education communities, with the ACTU and our allies in the union movement, community organisations, and parent and principal organisations. It means a national and local advertising campaign that reflects the magnitude of the choice facing voters.
Together we are entrusted with the responsibility to lead this election effort. We know what is at stake. Now, we need to deliver.
Correna Haythorpe AEU Federal President
