Educators could be forgiven for feeling a bit of déjà vu whenever the school funding debate rolls around again — same arguments about choice, equity and adequacy, different day.
That tension has flared again after Independent Schools Australia (ISA) launched a major new national campaign to put parents, school choice and affordability at the centre of education policy.
Running under ISA's School Choice Counts platform, the campaign is backed by a new report, The Great Education Shift, which shows Independent schools now educate 767,712 students across 1,240 schools nationally, with enrolments growing by around 3% in 2025 — the eighth consecutive year Independent schools have outpaced both government and Catholic enrolment growth.
ISA Chief Executive Officer Graham Catt said the campaign was about giving parents a stronger voice in a debate that too often talks about them rather than listening to them.
“Parents are choosing. Policy should reflect reality,” Catt said. “Parents do not choose a sector. They choose a school — the school they believe is right for their child. When hundreds of thousands of families are making that choice, it is not marginal. It is mainstream.”
The report shows families and school communities contributed $11.2bn in 2024, covering 51.8% of the total cost of Independent schooling. Three in four families surveyed said they had adjusted their household budget to afford fees, and more than half had been saving specifically for fees for at least three years.
“This is a cost-of-living issue as well as an education issue. Families are already carrying a major share of the cost of schooling and policy should not make that harder,” Catt said.
The report also found 91% of respondents believe government funding should support a family's ability to choose the school that best meets their child's needs, against a backdrop where average government funding per public school student sits at $26,140, compared with $13,550 per Independent school student.
However, the Australian Education Union (AEU) has rejected ISA's attempt to reframe the debate, arguing the real issue is not school choice but inadequate funding of public schools.
“Australia has one of the most inequitable school funding systems in the OECD. Many private schools receive millions of dollars in taxpayer funding while also collecting substantial fees,” said AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe.
The union points to the Productivity Commission's Report on Government Services 2026, which found government funding growth to private schools has outpaced public school funding growth by 30.6% over the past decade, with private schools receiving $17.96bn in Commonwealth funding in 2023-24 — 62% of all Commonwealth school funding. The AEU disputes ISA's funding figure, citing true recurrent funding per public school student at $21,550, not $26,140.
“These facts expose a deeply unfair school funding system, with government funding growth continuing to favour private schools over public schools despite rising student need,” Haythorpe said.
The AEU's own report, The Building Divide in Australian Schools, found private schools outspent public schools on capital infrastructure by $38bn over the past decade, while no current Commonwealth capital program exists for public schools.
“While some private schools are building literal castles, many public schools are waiting years for basic classroom upgrades, air conditioning, adequate toilets or learning spaces that meet the needs of students,” Haythorpe said.
“The question is not whether families can choose a private school, the question is whether every child can rely on a strong, well-funded local public school.”