This report highlights the urgent need to address the shortfall in funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boarding students. It calls for a sustainable funding model that offers Indigenous boarding schools the certainty they need to plan for the future, and will allow schools to attract and retain passionate staff, maintain essential infrastructure, and provide a culturally rich and nurturing environment for students. 

Key points

• Over the past decade, inadequate and inconsistent funding has led to the closure of two Indigenous boarding schools, with a third being forced to cease its boarding operations. Only nine majority Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boarding schools remain. 
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from regional and remote communities are some of the most educationally disadvantaged students in Australia.
• Due to the lack of educational facilities and opportunities, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from regional and remote communities are educated away from their home communities in boarding schools.
• The Independent sector is the largest provider of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boarding education in Australia.
• The additional costs of educating students from regional and remote communities in boarding schools away from their families and communities include not only living and educational support, but also health, pastoral and cultural support, and costs associated with maintaining links to home communities.
• The additional costs of educating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in boarding schools with large numbers of students are not being met. Schools are addressing this demonstrated shortfall through a variety of means, all of which impact the viability of schools and the quality of education that can be provided.
• The number of Independent boarding schools educating both large numbers and high proportions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boarding students from remote communities is small, between 10 to 15 schools.