Equity in education – SOS Australia

20 Years of Save Our Schools

Trevor Cobbold / July 24, 2026 / Equity in education, National issues

Last month was the 20^th anniversary of Save Our Schools (SOS). It was established in June 2006 to fight the ACT Labor Government’s plan to close 39 public pre-schools and schools, , including nearly one-third of all primary schools in the ACT. SOS led a high profile campaign which included extensive community involvement, demonstrations, media coverage and public advocacy. It resulted in saving 18 schools. A campaign followed to stop the closed schools sites being sold off which succeed in retaining most sites for community use.

SOS then expanded its focus to advocating nationally for public schools and greater equity in education. It subsequently published a vision statement which said:

Save Our Schools strives for a high quality public education system that:

Ensures that all children receive the education necessary for a full adult life and to be active citizens;
Achieves social equity in education outcomes; and
Sustains a democratic and socially tolerant society.

SOS has pursued these objectives vigorously over many years through many contributions to public debate on equity in education, school funding and other aspects of education policy in Australia.

Don’t Destroy Public Edcation in the Name of Reform

Trevor Cobbold / June 10, 2026 / Equity in education, Funding, Public education

The following is a summary of a research paper by Save Our Schools. The full paper can be downloaded below.

Australia’s education debate is at a dangerous turning point. In the pursuit of greater equity, some commentators propose that private schools receive full taxpayer funding, provided they do not charge fees and relax some enrolment restrictions. Save Our Schools completely rejects this proposal as a chimera that also jettisons the foundation principles of public education.

The central question is not whether Australia needs a fairer education system. It unquestionably does. The real question is whether we strengthen public education — or dismantle its core principles.

SOS rejects full taxpayer funding of private schools for two reasons:

It abrogates key principles of public education; and
Religious and private school organisations are very unlikely to give up their resource advantage over public schools and their special funding privileges.

NSW Independent Schools Enrol Very Few Low Income Students

Trevor Cobbold / May 17, 2026May 17, 2026 / Equity in education, Funding, Public education

It is fascinating to see how Independent schools and their lobby groups now resort to claiming they enrol many students from low income families as justification for their over-generous and ever increasing taxpayer funding. The latest is the claim by Independent Schools NSW that they serve the needs of lower income families. Catholic school organisations also make similar claims.

The facts are that NSW Independent and Catholic schools serve a very small proportion of low income students and only a tiny proportion of schools are disadvantaged. It is NSW public schools that serve the vast majority of low income families and nearly all disadvantaged schools in NSW are public schools. Moreover, public schools are vastly underfunded to meet the learning needs of these students while Independent and Catholic schools are very well resourced to meet the learning needs of their students.

SA Greens Support Full Funding of Public Schools

sosaustralia / March 14, 2026 / Equity in education, Funding, Public education

There is vast inequity between rich and poor in school outcomes in South Australia. A high proportion of socio-economically disadvantaged students in South Australia do not achieve national literacy and numeracy standards. There is a huge gap in school outcomes between advantaged and socio-economically disadvantaged students.

School funding in South Australia remains heavily biased against public schools. Government funding increase have favoured Catholic and Independent schools over public schools. Public schools have fewer resources than private schools and are significantly underfunded while Catholic and Independent schools are overfunded.

The new funding agreement between the Commonwealth and South Australian governments will provide a significant boost in funding for public schools by 2034. However, public schools will continue to be underfnded until 2034 and beyond.

The South Australian Greens support fully funding public schools by 2029. Here is the response by Robert Simms, Member of the Legislative Council of South Australia, to quesiotns put to election candidates by Save Our Schools.

SA Greens Candidate Response to SOS Election Questions

sosaustralia / February 27, 2026 / Equity in education, Funding, Public education

The Greens candidate for Unley in the South Australian election, Dylan Kiernan, has provided the following response to the SOS Election Brief on education outcomes and funding in Sourth Australia.

School Outcomes and Funding in South Australia – An Election Brief

Trevor Cobbold / February 15, 2026February 16, 2026 / Equity in education, Funding, Public education, School closures

The following are key points of a brief on the South Australian election campaign by Save Our Schools. The full brief can be ddowloaded below.

South Australian public schools face deep inequity and chronic underfunding, especially for socio-economically disadvantaged students. Candidates in the South Australian election must stand up for public schools.

The Case for Full-service School Models in Australia

sosaustralia / November 26, 2025 / Equity in education, Funding, Public education

In their new report, the Mitchell Institute calls for full-service school models as a purpose-built solution to Australia’s growing educational inequality.

Despite decades of reform and record investment, inequality in Australian schools persists and continues to grow. Students in high-needs communities can face multiple, compounding barriers to learning: poorer health, food insecurity, unstable housing and limited access to early and ongoing supports. This can contribute to rising absenteeism, disengagement and widening achievement gaps.

The Mitchell Institute’s new report Achieving Better and Fairer Schools: The case for full-service school models in Australia argues that traditional schools are not designed to respond to these complex needs.

A different approach is needed to address the growing inequities in student engagement, wellbeing and achievement. Our report calls for full-service school models as a purpose-built solution, designed to integrate education, health and social supports so that all children have the opportunity to thrive.

What fully funded public schools could do

sosaustralia / November 13, 2025 / Equity in education, Funding, Public education

The following is the abstract of a paper by Professor Pasi Sahlberg and Trevor Cobbold published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Australia’s most disadvantaged students are heavily concentrated in under-resourced public schools, worsening gaps in learning, wellbeing and life outcomes. Although governments have pledged to fully fund public schools through the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement 2025–2034, most schools will still fall short of their Schooling Resource Standard due to delayed and diluted implementation. The article argues that new investment estimated more than $20 billion over the decade must be directed to schools with the greatest need. Evidence shows four effective priorities: full-service school models, stronger family engagement, healthy school meals, and eliminating compulsory fees. Equity requires not just funding, but targeted, sustained action.

New NAPLAN Results Demand More Immediate Funding Increases for Public Schools

Trevor Cobbold / September 3, 2025 / Equity in education, Funding

The latest NAPLAN results reveal the enormity of the challenges facing Australia’s school system. They show vast achievement gaps between rich and poor, a huge proportion of equity group cohorts not achieving national proficiency standards and a very large proportion in need of additional support in their learning. Unfortunately, the education equity targets and new funding agreements between the Commonwealth and state and territory governments provide little prospect that the gaps can be reduced. Urgent action is needed to ensure that public schools are fully funded in the near future.

Government Funding Increases Entrench Private School Resource Advantage

Trevor Cobbold / March 10, 2025March 10, 2025 / Equity in education, Funding

Government funding increases for Catholic and Independent schools have outstripped those for public schools since 2009 and entrenched a major resource advantage for them. New figures published by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) show that Catholic and Independent schools have a much higher income per student than public schools across Australia and in nearly every state/territory.

It is incredible that Australia’s school funding system is so heavily favours the more advantaged over the under-privileged. Public schools enrol the vast majority of low income, Indigenous, remote area and high disability students. By contrast, only a small percentage of these students attend Catholic and Independent schools.