Government subsidies have provided a major source of funds to private schools in Australia for three decades. The increasing level of private school subsidies since the mid-1970s has contributed to a steady increase in the proportion of students enrolled in private schools. This growth in the private school share of enrolments was not inevitable, but...

Deb Wilkinson, Richard Denniss and Andrew MacIntosh highlight the need to tighten the current accountability arrangements that cover private schools in Australia to ensure that private schools teach public values. They highlight a range of exemptions that private schools curently have from anti-discrimination legislation allowing them to expel students on the basis of their sexuality...

Private school fees are not tax deductible in Australia. Nor are fees or levies paid to public schools. However, many private schools and some public schools operate building or library funds to which parents and ex-students are encouraged to make tax-deductible donations. These donations can increase substantially the funds available to the schools and thereby...

A recent Australia Institute report dismissing non-government schools as irrelevant to student achievement is seriously flawed, argues Jennifer Buckingham. The report contends that parents would be wiser to save money they might spend on non-government schooling, and use it for a full-fee university place. Its central argument, that schools do not directly affect student achievement...

The Australian education system is currently experiencing rapid change at all levels. This paper considers the recent trends in private school enrolments and fees in light of the new university arrangements which allow for Australian citizens to enrol as full fee paying students rather than having to rely solely on academic merit to earn a...