Trevor Cobbold, February 2025, National Convenor, https://saveourschools.com.au

Key Points

1. Public schools bear the greatest burden of disadvantage but are not resourced to overcome its effect on learning They have to do a lot more with far fewer resources than Catholic and Independent schools.
   • Income per student in public schools is 91.5% of the income of Catholic schools but the percentage of students from low socio-educationally advantaged (SEA) families in public schools is nearly 200% of that in Catholic schools.
   • Income per student in public schools is only 70.5% of that of Independent schools while their percentage of low SEA students is 6% of that in Independent schools.
2. Students from low SEA families comprise a much larger proportion of public school enrolments than in private schools.
   • In 2023, 31.1% of students in public schools were in the lowest SEA quartile compared with 9% in Catholic schools and 10.9% in Independent schools.
   • Low SEA students comprise a much higher proportion of public school enrolments than in Catholic and Independent schools in every state/territory.
3. By contrast, much larger proportions of students in Catholic and Independent schools are in the top SEA quartiles than in public schools.
   • Only 3% of students in public schools are from the highest SEA quartile compared with 41.8% in Independent schools and 26% in Catholic schools.
   • The proportion of students in the top two SEA quartiles in public schools is 8% compared with 70.1% for Independent schools and 56.7% for Catholic schools.
4. Public schools enrol the vast majority of students from the lowest SEA
   • 5% of low SEA students attend public schools compared to 11.8% in Catholic schools and only 7.7% in Independent schools.
   • Public schools enrol the vast proportion of low SEA students in every state/territory.
5. Most disadvantaged schools are public
   • In 2023, 9% of schools with more than 50% of their students in the lowest SEA quartile were public schools. Only 4% were Catholic schools and 5.2% were Independent schools.
   • Public schools account for the vast majority of disadvantaged schools in every state/territory.
6. A much larger proportion of public schools have a high concentration of students from the lowest SEA quartile than Catholic and Independent schools.
   • 29% of public schools have over 50% of their students from the lowest SEA quartile compared to only 5% of Catholic schools and 9% of Independent schools.
   • A much larger proportion of public schools are disadvantaged schools than Catholic and Independent schools in every state/territory.
7. Claims by Catholic education authorities that Catholic schools serve a similar demographic profile as public schools are Claims by Independent schoolsorganisations that 60% of families with students in Independent schools are from low to middle income households are also false.
8. There is extensive research evidence that both the family background of students and the social composition of schools have a major influence on student This is what is referred to as the “double jeopardy” effect of disadvantage.
   • Australia’s PISA results show that the “double jeopardy” effect accounts for the difference in school results between public schools and Catholic and Independent schools.
9. Catholic and Independent schools do not perform the social equity obligations expected by taxpayer funding.
   • Government funding of Catholic schools is 86% of that for public schools but the percentage of low SEA students in Catholic schools is only 51% of that of public
   • Government funding for Independent schools is 72% of that for public schools but their percentage of low SEA students is only 35% of that of public schools.
10. Large proportions of low SES students and other disadvantaged students are not achieving international and national standards and there are large achievement gaps between rich and poor. Public schools face an enormous challenge in improving school outcomes for these students because they face large shortages in human and material resources.
11. Improving outcomes for low SES students requires clear equity objectives matched by appropriate, well-targeted To date, all governments have failed on both counts.
    • The new Better and Fairer Schools Agreement between the Commonwealth and state/territory governments fails to clearly define equity or set clear equity It could even increase inequity.
    • Public schools are vastly under-funded to meet their challenge and the vast majority will remain so indefinitely under current funding agreements.
      • While these funding agreements between the Commonwealth and Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory increase funding for public schools they will remain significantly under-funded until at least 2029.
      • Interim agreements between the Commonwealth and the governments of NSW and Queensland fail to provide any funding increase for public schools in 2025.
12. The new funding agreements between the Commonwealth and the governments of Victoria and South Australia announced by the Prime Minister set a new standard. They adopt key aspects of the 3-point plan proposed by Save Our Schools and will ensure that public schools in those states fully funded, albeit not until 2034.
    • It is imperative that the agreements with the other states and the Northern Territory now be renegotiated to align with the Victorian and South Australian agreements to ensure that all public schools are fully funded in future.

Download the full Education Research Paper here.