A new funding agreement targets teenage dropouts in Australian schools.

The Federal Government’s Better and Fairer Schools Agreement (BFSA) was signed this week in Darwin.

The deal focuses on priorities such as improving student performance and increasing high school completion rates across the nation.

Outside the agreement, state and territory education ministers are urging the federal government to double its funding offer, with negotiations progressing slowly. 

The BFSA covers renewed funding arrangements and introduces national measures to reverse the decline in Australian school performance.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare says the number of students finishing high school is going backwards. 

“In the last seven years, it's dropped from 85 per cent to 79 per cent. In public schools, the drop is even bigger, from 83 per cent to 73.6 per cent,” he said. 

The BFSA will bring significant changes for Australia's 4 million school students. 

The Commonwealth plans to implement new tests to facilitate early interventions and improve performance across the country’s 10,000 schools. 

“I have made clear that the additional $16 billion of funding for public schools I have put on the table will be tied to reforms. Reforms that will help kids catch up, keep up and finish school,” Clare said.

  • A national phonics check for Year 1 students and a foundational numeracy check

  • Reducing the number of students needing additional support from 30 per cent to 20 per cent

  • Increasing school attendance to pre-COVID levels of 91.4 per cent, up from 88.6 per cent in 2023

  • Meeting Year 12 Indigenous completion rate targets of 96 per cent by 2031, up from 68.4 per cent in 2021

  • Increasing the number of teachers studying at university by 10 per cent and providing better support in their early career stages

The BFSA will see the Commonwealth double its share of Northern Territory public school funding to 40 per cent, ensuring the territory's schools meet the minimum funding levels set by the Gonski review by 2029. 

Western Australia has also agreed to a deal increasing Commonwealth funding to 22.5 per cent, reaching Gonski levels by 2026.

However, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and Tasmania are demanding a 25 per cent federal contribution.

“Negotiations are moving slowly, but I still remain confident we will come to an agreement. We are sticking to our guns and I know I'm joined by other states and the ACT, calling on the federal government to provide the last remaining five per cent,” said South Australian Education Minister Blair Boyer.

Clare warned that states risk receiving no new funds if they do not confirm their participation by the end of September. 

Delays in the new agreement, which has already been postponed by a year, would adversely impact underfunded public schools losing students to independent and Catholic institutions. 

Critics argue this situation is creating a “segregated” education system.

The Centre for Independent Studies supported the government's reforms, with Glenn Fahey, education program director, saying; “The new agreements tell the education system at large that better results and ambitious reform are expected”. 

Conversely, the Australian Education Union (AEU) and the Greens criticised the agreement for failing to meet funding promises. 

“This current deal on the table, of an additional 2.5 per cent or nothing, is inadequate and does not deliver on their promise,” AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe said. 

“This is a plan to lock in underfunding for another decade, ensuring another entire generation of public school kids misses out on the education they deserve,” said Greens Senator Penny Allman-Payne.

A copy of the agreement is accessible here.