This publication puts forward a proposal from the Australian Learning Lecture to create a new equitable framework of how we fund and regulate Australian schools.

The proposal is aimed at creating a system where schools compete, not on their ability to attract additional resources and the right students, but on their capacity to help each child achieve a full year of learning, every year, and to realise their full potential.

The proposal has been informed by what happens internationally.

For instance, New Zealand, Canada, Scotland, Belgium and the Netherlands show that it is possible to provide choice and diversity of schools to parents and students. In these countries:

• It is common for secular and religious schools to be fully publicly-funded and free, and
• All schools receive government funding, but no fees are charged.