https://ncec.catholic.edu.au/2025-federal-election/

Catholic Education benefits all Australians

Catholic schools are Australia’s largest non-government education provider, delivering choice, affordability, and value for all.

Our Priorities

1. Ensure Affordability and Choice

Catholic schools save taxpayers billions of dollars and ease pressure on government-run schools. To remain sustainable, we need the government to provide continued policy stability and funding certainty.

We are calling on our political leaders to:

• Guarantee funding certainty with no adverse changes
• Ease cost of living pressures by reviewing the funding model to ensure affordable and fair parental contributions
• Support Catholic schools in employing staff who uphold their ethos
• Ensure equal access to programs such as national teacher training initiatives.  

2. Address hardship, wellbeing and disadvantage

Every student deserves access to quality education and the right support, no matter their background.

We are calling on our political leaders to:

• Expand mental health and wellbeing programs in schools
• Increase support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, including Indigenous Boarding and Closing the Gap initiatives
• Improve funding models for students with disability, rural and remote schools, and disadvantaged communities.

3. Build and Innovate for the Future

As demand for non-government schooling and early childhood education grows, investment must keep pace.

We are calling on our political leaders to:

• Ensure fair funding for early childhood and vocational education including new early childhood centres on Catholic school sites
• Increase infrastructure funding through the Capital Grants Program
• Support Catholic schools in leading national education reforms.

Empowering Communities, Enriching Australia

Educating 1 in 5 Australian Students

• 820,000 students across 1,751 schools
• 42% of students from non-Catholic backgrounds
• 42% of our students come from low socio-educational backgrounds
• 23% of students supported with disability
• 161% growth in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student enrolment over 10 years

Economic and Social Contribution

• Employing more than 112,000 Australians
• Contributing more than $17 billion annually to Australia’s economy
• Families contributing over $6 billion annually in fees and capital levies that reduce the burden on government

Support for Education and Communities

• School communities have built educational infrastructure worth an estimated $100 billion for the nation
• Serving families in regional Australia with 40% of Catholic schools located in regional, rural, and remote areas
• Supporting disadvantaged families with significant fee concessions

Transforming lives through Education

• Research suggests those who attend Catholic schools are more likely, on average, to see lifelong benefits in employment, health and life satisfaction
• In addition, Catholic school attendees are more likely to work in an industry or sector that directly benefits the public and are more likely to donate to charity 

How are Australian schools funded?

Around $86.7 billion is spent on educating children and young people in all Australian schools annually.

School funding is a shared responsibility between federal, state and territory governments and parental contributions in non-government schools. 

State and territory governments are transitioning to provide 75 per cent of the School Resourcing Standard (SRS) for government schools and the federal government 25 per cent. 

In the non-government sector, parent contributions reduce the level of government funding by about 25 per cent in Catholic schools. Of the remaining share, the federal government provides 80 per cent, and state and territory governments provide 20 per cent. 

The funding must be spent directly on students, staff and operating costs, not capital works projects e.g. a new building. Government school capital costs are mainly funded by state governments with a small contribution from parents. 

What about Capital Funding?

Non-government schools have reduced access to capital and infrastructure funding and rely on private income – loans, parent and private contributions.

In 2023, Catholic school families contributed $2.37 billion on capital projects.

How is the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) calculated? 

The SRS benchmark establishes the minimum cost – known as ‘Base Funding’ – of educating a student. Every student regardless of where they go to school gets the same base funding – $13,977 for a primary student and $17,565 for a secondary student.

Non-government schools are then means tested to determine how much the parents of students are expected to contribute – known as the ‘Capacity to Contribute’ – and government funding is then reduced accordingly. Six priorities then receive additional funding – known as ‘Loadings’ – to support students with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, socio-educational disadvantage, low-English proficiency, as well as disadvantage due to school size and school location.