Report on Government Services 2021

Schooling aims to provide education for all young people. The structure of school education varies across states and territories.

Compulsory school education

Entry to school education is compulsory for all children in all states and territories, although the child age entry requirements vary by jurisdiction (ABS 2020). In 2019, minimum starting ages generally restrict enrolment to children aged between four-and-a-half and five years at the beginning of the year (ABS 2020). (See section 3, interpretative material, for more details.)

National mandatory requirements for schooling — as agreed in the National Youth Participation Requirement (NYPR) — came into effect through relevant State and Territory government legislation in 2010. Under the NYPR, all young people must participate in schooling until they complete year 10; and if they have completed year 10, in full time education, training or employment (or combination of these) until 17 years of age (COAG 2009). Some State and Territory governments have extended these requirements for their jurisdiction.

Type and level of school education

Schools are the institutions within which organised school education takes place (see sub-section 4.2, interpretative material, for a definition of ‘school’) and are differentiated by the type and level of education they provide:

• Primary schools provide education from the first year of primary school — known as the ‘foundation year’ in the Australian Curriculum (see sub-section 4.2, interpretative material, for the naming conventions used in each state and territory). Primary school education extends to year 6 (year 7 in SA until 2022 when it will be high school). (Prior to 2015, primary school education also extended to year 7 in Queensland and WA.)
• Secondary schools provide education from the end of primary school to year 12
• Special schools provide education for students that exhibit one or more of the following characteristics before enrolment: mental or physical disability or impairment; slow learning ability; social or emotional problems; or in custody, on remand or in hospital (ABS 2020).

Affiliation, ownership and management

Schools can also be differentiated by their affiliation, ownership and management, which are presented for two broad categories:

• Government schools are owned and managed by State and Territory governments
• Non-government schools, including Catholic and Independent schools, are owned and managed by non-government establishments.

State and Territory governments are responsible for ensuring the delivery and regulation of schooling to all children of school age in their jurisdiction. State and Territory governments provide most of the school education funding in Australia, which is administered under their own legislation. They determine curricula, register schools, regulate school activities and are directly responsible for the administration of government schools. They also provide support services used by both government and non-government schools. Non-government schools operate under conditions determined by State and Territory government registration authorities.

From 1 January 2018 the Australian Government introduced the Quality Schools Package replacing the Students First funding model which had been in effect since 1 January 2014. States and territories will also contribute funding under the Quality schools Package. More information on these funding arrangements can be found in box 4.6 of the supporting interpretative material.

The Australian Government and State and Territory governments work together to progress and implement national policy priorities, such as: a national curriculum; national statistics and reporting; national testing; and, teaching standards (PM&C 2014). The Education Council — comprising the Australian, State and Territory education ministers and the New Zealand education minister (as a non-decision making member) — is the principal forum for developing national priorities and strategies for schooling.

Nationally in 2018-19, government recurrent expenditure on school education was $65.6 billion, a 4.3 per cent real increase from 2017-18 (table 4A.10). State and Territory governments provided the majority of funding (69.7 per cent) (figure 4.1).

Government schools accounted for $49.7 billion (75.8 per cent), with State and Territory governments the major funding source ($42.0 billion, or 84.4 per cent of government schools’ funding). Non-government schools accounted for $15.9 billion (24.2 per cent), with the Australian Government the major funding source ($12.1 billion, or 76.2 per cent of non-government schools funding) (table 4A.10).

The share of government funding to government and non-government schools varies across jurisdictions and over time according to jurisdictional approaches to funding schools (see box 4.6 in interpretative material) and is affected by the characteristics of school structures and the student body in each state and territory.

This Report presents expenditure related to government funding only, not to the full cost to the community of providing school education. Caution should be taken when comparing expenditure data for government and non-government schools, because governments provide only part of school funding. Governments provided 58.6 per cent of non-government school funding in 2019, with the remaining 41.4 per cent sourced from private fees and fund raising (Australian Government Department of Education unpublished).

Schools

In 2019, there were 9503 schools in Australia (6245 primary schools, 1416 secondary schools, 1359 combined schools, and 483 special schools) (table 4A.1). The majority of schools were government owned and managed (70.1 per cent) (tables 4A.1).

Settlement patterns (population dispersion), the age distribution of the population and educational policy influence the distribution of schools by size and level in different jurisdictions. Data on school size and level are in Schools Australia, 2019 (ABS 2020).

Student body

There were 3.9 million full time equivalent (FTE) students enrolled in school nationally in 2019 (table 4A.3). Whilst the majority of students are full time, there were 10 619 part time students in 2019 (predominantly in secondary schools) (ABS 2020).

• Government schools had 2.6 million FTE students enrolled (65.7 per cent of all FTE students). Over the past seven years this proportion has increased from 65.1 per cent (in 2012) (table 4A.3).
• Non-government schools had 1.4 million FTE students enrolled (34.3 per cent of all FTE students).
• The proportion of students enrolled in government schools is higher for primary schools than secondary schools (table 4A.3).

A higher proportion of FTE students were enrolled in primary schools (57.4 per cent) than in secondary schools (42.6 per cent) (table 4A.3). SA has the highest proportion of FTE students enrolled in primary school education (60.6 per cent) as it is the only jurisdiction that still includes year 7 in primary school.

The enrolment rate is close to 100 per cent for Australian children aged 15 years (consistent with requirements under the NYPR), but decreases as ages increase. Nationally in 2019, 99.0 per cent of Australian children aged 15 years were enrolled at school, declining to 93.8 per cent of 16 year olds and 77.6 per cent of 17 year olds. Data are available for 15–19 year olds by single year of age and totals in table 4A.4.

Nationally in 2019, government schools had a higher proportion of students from selected special needs groups than non-government schools, including for:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students — 7.4 per cent of government school students and 2.8 per cent of non-government school students (table 4A.5)
• students from a low socio-educational background — 30.5 per cent of government school students and 12.8 per cent of non-government school students (table 4A.6)
• geographically remote and very remote students — 2.3 per cent of government school students and 1.0 per cent of non-government school students (table 4A.8).

For students with disability, 20.5 per cent, 17.9 per cent, and 19.5 per cent of students at government, Catholic, and independent schools, respectively, required an education adjustment due to disability (table 4A.7). Data by level of adjustment are in table 4A.7.

School and Vocational Education and Training (VET)

School-aged people may participate in VET by either participating in ‘VET in Schools’, or (see section 5) remain engaged in education through a Registered Training Organisation. Nationally in 2019, there were 235 800 VET in Schools students (NCVER 2020). Overall, 407 500 people aged 15–19 years successfully completed at least one unit of competency as part of a VET qualification at the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Certificate II level or above (at a school or Registered Training Organisation) (table 4A.9).

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2020, Schools Australia, 2019, Cat. no. 4221.0, Canberra.

ACARA (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority) 2019, NAPLAN Achievement in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions and Numeracy: National Report for 2019 , ACARA, Sydney.

ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research) 2019, PISA 2018: Reporting Australia’s Results. Volume I Student Performance, ACER Australia.

—— 2018, PISA Australia in Focus: Number 1 – Sense of belonging at school, ACER, Australia.

—— 2017, PIRLS 2016: Reporting Australia’s results, ACER, Melbourne.

COAG 2018, National School Reform Agreement, https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/national_school_reform_agreement_9_0.pdf (accessed 9 October 2020).

—— 2009, COAG Meeting Communique April 2009, https://www.coag.gov.au/meeting-outcomes/coag-meeting-communique-30-april-2009 (accessed 21 November 2019).

EC (Education Council) 2019, Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration, http://www.educationcouncil.edu.au/Alice-Springs--Mparntwe--Education-Declaration.aspx (accessed 9 October 2020).

NCVER (National Centre for Vocational Education Research) 2020, VET in Schools 2019, Adelaide.

PM&C (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet) 2014, Roles and responsibilities in education, Part A: Early Childhood and Schools, Reform of Federation White Issues Paper 4, Canberra.