NEW TASMANIAN DEAL FAILS TO DELIVER FULL FUNDING FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS

Today’s announcement of a funding deal between the Albanese Government and the Tasmanian Government will lock in inequality for public schools, students and their families across the next decade. Tasmanian children will never have full funding under the new deal between Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

While the full details are scant, what we do know from the Prime Minister’s comments today is that there will be a shortfall of almost $260 million between 2024 and 2028 for Tasmanian public schools.

Australian Education Union Federal President, Correna Haythorpe said: “The supposed “full funding deals” that the Albanese government has struck have been shown to have fallen short of what is needed to reach 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard, (SRS) with AAP fact check finding the announcements made about the Western Australian funding deal to be “misleading”.

“Underfunding of public schools in Tasmania will amount to $259.8 million over a five year period between 2024 and 2028. This comes from the state government’s use of the “4% additional allowance” on capital depreciation, regulatory bodies and other non-school based costs, which are costs never intended to be covered from the SRS.

“This accounting trick will deny public schools up to $1,062 per year per student by 2029.

“This will remove $49.4 million of funding from public school classrooms in Tasmania in 2024 alone, and will continue to rise every year to $54.6 million in 2028, resulting in a total of almost $260 million in underfunding,” said Ms Haythorpe.

President of AEU Tasmania, David Genford said: “Unless 100% of the SRS is spent on schools, the State and Federal Governments cannot truthfully say that they have funded Tasmanian schools according to Gonski principles.

“The failure to deliver even the bare minimum funding required to educate most Tasmanian kids to the minimum standard is not a winning announcement. It is an abject failure of the Government.

“This is a cloak-and-dagger deal that will rob this generation of Tasmanian children of the education funding they need," said Mr Genford.

Correna Haythorpe continued: “This has never been about simply getting a little extra money, it has always been about ensuring that every child has access to the resources they need. Ensuring that families can be confident their child will receive the support they need and that communities have public school graduates equipped to help build their future.

“This new deal will see Tasmanian schools, students and families miss out on almost $260 million for additional teachers, education support staff and individual support for children who most need it, whether they are excelling or trying to catch up.

“We are urging the Rockliff and Albanese governments to make good on a true commitment to funding each student at 100% of the SRS, rather than diverting funds to non-school costs and depriving students of the full-funding they need for their education.”

While the 4% depreciation clause remains as part of the bilateral agreement, there is not a true commitment to ensuring that all schools are fully funded at 100% of the SRS level. This must be addressed by the Albanese Government as a priority matter rather than facilitating agreements that allow for the diversion of funds from public schools.

The failure of the Albanese government to offer the full 25% Commonwealth share needed to put all public schools on a viable pathway to full funding is locking yet another generation of public school students into an understaffed, under-resourced and under-supported system.

ENDS

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