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��ҹ������վ Professor Laura Perry from the School of Education for The Conversation.

During the federal election campaign we can expect to hear candidates talk passionately about . This is one of the  of education policy – and one many families and voters . 

You may hear some parties talking about how they are “” schools and other commentary about schools being  or . 

How does school funding work in Australia? 

Where does the money come from?

All schools in Australia receive both public and private funding. Public funding is taxpayer funding and it comes from both state and federal governments. 

Private funding comes from parents and households, as well as churches and other associations, which are mostly charitable. These charitable organisations .

How does government funding work?

All schools in Australia receive funding from federal and state governments. 

The amount they receive is based on the “”. This standard – which dates back to the  – establishes a baseline amount schools should receive based on the number of pupils they enrol. 

Extra loadings are then provided for schools and students with special needs, for example students with disabilities, from low socioeconomic backgrounds or in remote areas.

The estimated baseline  is A$17,565 per secondary student and $13,977 per primary student. 

The latest federal school funding policy, the  sets out how public schools will receive 25% of the schooling resource standard from the federal government and rest from their respective state government. 

Up to 80% of a non-government school’s schooling resource standard funding can be provided by the federal government. But the actual amount is adjusted by something called a school’s “”.&�Բ�����;

This measures a non-government school community’s capacity to contribute to the ongoing costs of running their school. In practice, it sees lower-fee non-government schools receive more public funding than higher-fee non-government schools.

State governments also provide public funding to non-government schools. This is because school funding agreements require state governments to contribute some level of funding to non-government schools.

How are schools funded by other sources?

All schools in Australia receive private funding from parents and households.

Public schools receive private funding in the form of fees and contributions from parents. These  can vary from a few hundred dollars at some public primary schools to  at some public secondary schools. 

This funding is used to support building and facilities, excursions, as well as subsidise curriculum subjects, especially in secondary schools. 

Non-government schools receive private funding in the form of fees. These are often many thousands of dollars per student. In NSW and Victoria in 2024,  indicates average fees for Year 12 are at least $15,674. 

Non-government schools in particular receive a substantial funding from philanthropic and charitable organisations. 

According to analysis by advocacy group Save Our Schools, 50 non-government schools received  between 2017 and 2021.

What is meant by ‘underfunded’ and ‘overfunded?’

In media and policy debates about schools we frequently hear talk of public schools being “” or still not “”. We also hear about some independent schools being “”.&�Բ�����;

This relates to whether they are receiving what they are entitled to under the schooling resources standard. 

To date  of public schools, receive the amount they are entitled to based on the schooling resources standard. This is largely because state and territory governments, other than the ACT, have not contributed their full share. 

This means the vast majority of public schools are “underfunded”.&�Բ�����;

The most recent national school funding agreement has set out a timeline to make sure all schools are eventually fully funded. In some cases, this may not be until the 2030s. 

On the other hand,  because they are receiving more than the amount specified by the schooling resource standard. 

Non-government schools that charge fees in excess of the schooling resource standard will be “overfunded”. Even moderate-fee schools may be “overfunded” because of the public funding they receive on top of the private funding paid by parents. 

As noted earlier, school funding agreements require federal and state governments to contribute to the schooling resource standard of all non-government schools. Even high-fee non-government schools receive substantial amounts of public funding. 

For example, my 2024  suggests high-fee non-government schools (those charging $25,000 per year or more) receive approximately $5,000 per pupil in public funding.

Are some non-government schools at risk of losing funds?

Most non-government schools will continue to receive increases in public funding due to indexation.

But there are headlines about “private school ”.&�Բ�����;

This is because some non-government schools will see less public funding if the federal government has been paying more than 80% of the schooling resource standard (due to outdated funding methods). Schools have . 

This will only impact a small proportion of non-government schools. For example, in January,  30 schools were projected to lose funding.

This article is republished from  under a Creative Commons license. Read the .