Australian Government Releases Terms of Reference for Funding Review

6 July 2010

The new Federal Minister for Education, Mr Simon Crean, has released the final terms of reference for the Australian Government’s Review of School Funding. The terms of reference state that the purpose of the review will be to ‘provide recommendations to the Minister for Education on the future funding arrangements for schooling in Australia for the period beyond 2012. The review’s recommendations will be directed towards achieving a funding system for the period beyond 2012 which is transparent, fair, financially sustainable and effective in promoting excellent educational outcomes for all Australian students.’ It will focus on:

• the role of funding arrangements in supporting improved educational outcomes, including
• possible links between school resourcing and educational outcomes
• funding mechanisms that address current barriers to educational achievement.
• the role of families, parents, communities and other institutions in providing and supporting educational partnerships
• the role of all levels of government in providing funding for schools
• baseline levels of funding for schools that take account of the cost of ensuring that all students have access to ‘a world class education’, including private contributions, and of the factors that influence the costs of delivering this education
• the most effective means of distributing funding to schools, including an investigation of current models used in states, territories and overseas
• the forms of accountability, transparency and regulation necessary to promote ‘high standards of delivery and probity among schools receiving public funding’ and the data required to monitor and assess these standards.

Mr Crean claimed that the review would also ‘lay the foundation for ongoing investment in the sector’. A copy of the Terms of Reference can be access here.

In an interview with The Australian newspaper, Mr Crean, has also reiterated promises previously made by the new Prime Minister, Ms Julia Gillard, than no school would lose funding under the Australian Government review of school funding. He confirmed that no school would lose ‘one dollar’ if any changes were made to the Australian Government’s funding model for schools. He stated that ‘this is not about taking money away from schools...There is no schools hit list...No school will be worse off. Not a dollar will be taken away.’

According to The Australian, Mr Crean’s commitment that no school would lose funding included an indication that, even where a school’s enrolments dropped, it would continue to receive its existing quantum of funding until its enrolments rose once more. He also indicated that the Australian Government intended to provide significant additional funding to provide greater support for disadvantaged schools. Mr Crean claimed that the cost of additional funding for schools would be offset by productivity gains from higher Year 12 retention rates and improved educational outcomes.

Mr Crean claimed that, if the Labor Government was to be re-elected and he remained the Minister for Education, the review of school funding would be ‘his biggest priority’. He stated that ‘the inquiry has been given a pretty important mandate and that’s to ensure that what we are getting is quality outcomes for all students’.

Meanwhile, according to The Australian, the Shadow Minister for Education, Mr Christopher Pyne, has written to the Bishops’ Commission for Catholic Education, promising that the Coalition would largely maintain the Socioeconomic Status (SES) funding model if it was elected, although it would consider any ‘sensible recommendations’ made by the funding review panel. He stated that ‘there's obviously a review that will begin after the election, and if the review makes sensible recommendations that improve [the SES model] we are not going to close our minds to sensible changes. But we are fully committed to the SES funding model. We are fully committed to funding maintained and guaranteed and to the...indexation of non-government schools. There's no reason why the SES funding model shouldn't be reviewed just like other aspects of government policy is constantly reviewed.’

 

 

Back to News Page