Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

The Commonwealth takes the view that, in the setting of the schooling resource standard—which of course will be developed and enhanced via the review methodologies the senators debated—a 100 per cent target for the schooling resource standard is an appropriate target to have in place. We obviously seek to ensure, as I indicated before, that no state that is below that target is able to cost-shift onto the Commonwealth. We seek to ensure, though, that every state is treated equally. In terms of your question, I am happy to inform you that our anticipation is that after 10 years, across the states, all government school systems will be receiving one consistent 20 per cent share of the schooling resource standard. Across the states, all non-government school systems will be receiving one consistent share of the schooling resource standard.

This is about getting rid of differential treatments and having circumstances in which children of virtually identical need in schools of virtually identical circumstances can, in one state of Australia, receive significantly different levels of funding from their national government than they do in another state of Australia. It is about seeking to be blind to state boundaries, but in recognition that yes, we want to seek an aspiration of states and territories meeting the schooling resource standard or thereabouts. We have sought to apply this mechanism so that the states—Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria—that do not come close to meeting the 95 per cent, or plus, target of the schooling resource standard have an incentive in which to do so and within which to put in the additional investment to do so. It does get to 95 per cent, because we are seeking to encourage the states towards a 75 per cent share of the schooling resource standard plus the proposed 20 per cent share from the Commonwealth, which, of course, equals 95 per cent of the schooling resource standard.

This is about creating an incentive mechanism that sits alongside and works in tandem with the mechanism we already have to ensure that there is no cost-shifting. But we also do not want to undermine the constitutional autonomy of the states in relation to school funding, so this is about creating an incentive. Yes, the states will still be free to set their funding levels, but for the first time the Commonwealth minister will have clear powers and clear reasons to be able to respond if the states and territories reduce their funding, rather than having the Commonwealth minister's hands tied while the states and territories cut their funding, as we saw in the last report on government services data, which was released by the Productivity Commission, which showed that additional Commonwealth funding for school education had flowed into my home state of South Australia but in that year the state Labor government had reduced its funding for school education, therefore negating the benefits that were intended to flow through to schoolchildren and schools in South Australia.