The claims by the Federal and Tasmanian education ministers that Tasmanian public schools will be fully funded by 2034 are a blatant lie. The new school funding agreement between the Commonwealth and the Tasmanian Government will not set public schools are not on the path to full funding as government media releases say.
Despite a substantial and very welcome boost in funding, Tasmanian public schools will remain underfunded in 2034, 23 years after the Gonski Report recommended full funding. Public schools will remain massively underfunded in every year until 2034. It is a shameful neglect of the challenges facing public schools and the learning needs of disadvantaged students, the large majority of whom attend public schools.
In 2034, Tasmanian public schools will be funded at 97.7% of their Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) instead of 100%. Public schools will be underfunded by $37 million in 2034. The cumulative underfunding over the ten years is estimated at $676 million. Public schools also suffered massive losses also under the previous Morrison era agreement.
There are several reasons for the continuing underfunding.
First, the Commonwealth increase in its share of funding Tasmanian public schools from 20% to 25% is only gradually phased in over ten years. The Commonwealth share will increase to 22.5% by 2026 but will not exceed 23% until 2032.
Second, the allowance for the Tasmanian Government to claim capital depreciation up to 4% of its SRS share will not be removed until 2034. It will be reduced by only one percentage point by 2029 with the remaining 3% to be gradually reduced over the last five years. Tasmanian public schools will remain defrauded by this Morrison era “accounting trick” for another nine years. The cumulative loss of funding from this accounting trick will amount to $456 million.
Third, the Government can other non-SRS expenditure as part of its share of funding public schools. The Government can now separately claim expenditure on school transport for public school students up to 1.5% of its SRS share for public schools from 2029 to 2034. The agreement admits these area “non-standard inclusions.” This is a remarkable admission by governments that these allowances defraud public schools of eligible SRS funding.
The Government can also continue to claim expenditure on two regulatory authorities as part of its share of funding public schools as it did under the previous agreement. Under the new agreement it can also claim expenditure on two additional authorities.
The funding loss for public schools from these non-SRS allowances will increase from $66 million in 2024 to $76 million in 2029 before reducing to $37 million in 2034. The cumulative loss of funding over the ten years is estimated at $640 million.
The Tasmanian agreement discriminates against public schools by allowing the Tasmanian Government to claim non-SRS expenditures as part of its share of funding public schools but not for its share of funding private schools. Private schools are also subject to regulation and private school students are eligible for school transport subsidies. Discriminatory defrauding public schools provides another resource advantage for private schools.
The agreement must be revised to give public schools a better and fairer deal. The Commonwealth should accelerate the increase in its funding share of the SRS public schools to achieve 25% by 2029. The Tasmanian Government should remove the 4% allowance by 2029 and immediately remove the new non-SRS expenditure claims as part of public school funding.