In Senate Estimates this morning Labor refused to rule out dropping the dodgy accounting trick from bilateral funding agreements which allows states and territories to meet less than their required commitment to public school funding.
Under the Morrison government a clause was inserted into bilateral agreements between the Commonwealth and states and territories which allowed them to include 4% of non-school spending in their share of Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) funding.
As stated by Greens spokesperson on Primary & Secondary Education Senator Penny Allman-Payne:
“This morning’s revelations prove that Labor’s pledge to deliver ‘full funding’ to public schools is utterly hollow.
“There is no commitment to full funding. There isn’t even a commitment to minimum funding which, as the Department of Education confirmed today, is what the SRS represents.
“In 2022 when in opposition Labor said they would stop states and territories from claiming non-school costs as part of their SRS contribution, but that looks like another hollow promise.
“This confirms that Labor’s deal with the WA government actually locks in underfunding of 96% of the SRS into the future.”
