The Albanese Government has reached an agreement with the Crisafulli Government to put all state schools in Queensland on a path to full and fair funding.

This is a landmark day in the history of public education in Blair.

As part of the Heads of Agreements signed today, the Commonwealth will provide an additional 5 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) to Queensland.

This will lift the Commonwealth’s contribution from 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the SRS by 2034.

This will see an estimated $2.8 billion in additional Commonwealth funding to Queensland state schools over the next 10 years.

This agreement will see the biggest injection of funding ever delivered for Queensland state schools.

As part of the Agreements, Queensland will remove the provision allowing them to claim 4 per cent of state school funding for indirect school costs such as capital depreciation and replace it with 4 per cent of recurrent funding on eligible expenses.

Commonwealth funding will be tied to the reforms needed to lift education standards across the country, including more individualised support for students.

This is not a blank cheque. The Agreement signed today will be followed by a Queensland Bilateral Agreement, which will tie funding to reforms that will help students catch up, keep up and finish school, such as:

• Year 1 phonics and early years of schooling numeracy checks to identify students in the early years of school who need additional help.
• evidence-based teaching and targeted and intensive supports such as small-group or catch-up tutoring to help students who fall behind.
• initiatives that support wellbeing for learning – including greater access to mental health professionals.
• access to high-quality and evidence-based professional learning, and
• initiatives that improve the attraction and retention of teachers.

In addition to these reforms, the Agreements have targets, including that by 2030 the proportion of students finishing high school will be the highest it has ever been. Other targets include:

• Reducing the proportion of students in the NAPLAN ‘Needs Additional Support’ proficiency level for reading and numeracy by 10 per cent.
• Increasing the proportion of students in the ‘Strong’ and ‘Exceeding’ proficiency levels for reading and numeracy by 10 per cent by 2030 and trend upwards for priority equity cohorts in the ‘Strong’ and ‘Exceeding’ proficiency levels.
• Increasing the Student Attendance Rate, nationally, to 91.4 per cent (2019 level) by 2030.
• Increasing the engagement rate (completed or still enrolled) of initial teacher education students by 10 percentage points to 69.7 per cent by 2035.
• Increasing the proportion of students leaving school with a Year 12 certificate by 7.5 percentage points (nationally) by 2030.

This means more help for students and more support for teachers.

Today’s agreement means that all state schools in the country are on a path to full and fair funding and all jurisdictions in Australia have now signed on to the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement.

Quotes attributable to Federal Member for Blair Shayne Neumann:

“Every Blair school student deserves access to a quality education.

“This landmark funding agreement delivered by Labor that will help improve our local schools in the Ipswich and the Somerset areas and boost outcomes for students.

“Labor is investing in Blair schools to create a better and fairer education system.”

Quotes attributable to Minister for Education Jason Clare:

“This is a big day for Queensland state schools.

“This is real funding tied to real reforms to help students catch up, keep up and finish school.

“It’s not a blank cheque. I want this money to get results.

“That’s why funding will be directly tied to reforms that we know work.

“It will help make sure every child gets a great start in life. What every parent wants. And what every Australian child deserves.”

Photo: Federal Member for Blair Shayne Neumann, Minister for Education Jason Clare and Senator Murray Watt discuss the Commonwealth agreement with Australian Education Union Federal President Correna Haythorpe (second from left) and Queensland Teachers Union President Cresta Richardson.