This paper analyses trends in the funding of public and private schools. The author argues that the bias towards the funding of private schools and the under-funding of public schools is a major factor behind the large achievement gaps between rich and poor in Australia.

This paper argues the Australian taxpayer is much better off when non-government schools receive public funding. The authors calculate the savings from all Australian non-government schools, both Catholic and Independent, for the year 2023.

Schools may be strategically manipulating participation in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) to improve their public performance results, according to this research.

This report examines the benefits, both educational and economic, for investing in Australia’s public schools, and proposes how the Commonwealth can address years of political and fiscal neglect.

The research outlined in this report suggest that the better performance achieved by private schools over public ones is not necessarily linked to a better quality of education in private schools, but rather to an over-representation of privileged groups, and often a school climate more conducive to learning.