Queensland Joins National Education Funding Standard

The Australian federal government has finalized an agreement with Queensland to increase Commonwealth funding for public schools, raising their contribution from 20% to 25% of the Schooling Resource Standard by 2034. This deal, part of the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, grants Queensland an additional $2.8 billion over ten years to address educational disparities and enhance literacy and numeracy rates. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed the agreement as a transformative step towards ensuring every Australian student receives adequate educational resources. While Queensland Premier David Crisafulli emphasized the support this will provide to rural and Indigenous schools, critics, like Senator Penny Allman-Payne, argue that public schools will remain underfunded for another decade. The agreement includes provisions for reforms aimed at improving individual student support and teacher retention. This marks a historic achievement, ensuring all Australian states and territories have now committed to the national funding standard proposed in the Gonski review.