A partnership between governments

Creating a fairer and more sustainable approach to school funding

All recurrent Commonwealth funding for schooling will be delivered through fair and transparent needs‑based arrangements, providing new investment to support reforms that will help to improve each student's achievements at school.

The evidence‑based reforms in the National Plan for School Improvement are focused on quality teaching, quality learning, transparency and accountability, meeting student need and empowering school leadership. This means more money for things like literacy coaches, teacher training and parental engagement.

No student left behind

These reforms will deliver the support every student needs to succeed. Focusing on students struggling under the current arrangements, the new system will ensure that how well you do at school is not determined by where you live.

An investment in the future

Education is an investment in our children's future wellbeing—and in the strength of our national economy. Improving the quality of our schooling will be vital for ensuring Australia succeeds in the Asian century.

State and Territory commitment to reform

In return for additional funding, the Commonwealth has asked every State and Territory to sign up to new national education reforms and:

become a signatory to the National Education Reform Agreement, including the National Plan for School Improvement and needs‑based funding;
stop education funding cuts and freezes, including maintaining current school spending and committing to three per cent growth on an ongoing basis; and
provide their 35 per cent share of the additional funding required to move the schools in their State or Territory up towards the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS).