The Victorian Government has passed legislation to reform the funding of non-government schools in Victoria. The reforms are aimed at ensuring transparency in the funding mechanism for non-government schools. The government describes the move as 'the first step of many in the government's ambition to make Victoria the Education state'. The reforms, to be contained in the Education and Training Reform Amendment Act 2014 (Vic) (the Act), have been passed by Parliament, but are yet to come into effect.
The Act is the latest piece of legislative reform in the education sector by the Andrews Government, which came into power in Victoria in December last year.
The reforms aim to clarify how non-government schools are funded. The Act guarantees that non-government schools will receive at least 25% of the funding that is provided to government schools, according to a statutory formula. The 'broad principle' will be that this will be calculated as a percentage of the funds provided for teaching, learning and the welfare of students.
Funding that is provided to government schools for purposes such as payroll tax, capital expenditure and early childhood development funding sits outside of this calculation. Funding that is provided by the Commonwealth Government, as well as funding for programs or initiatives that are provided to both government and non-government schools also sits outside of this calculation.
Mr Steve Herbert, Victorian Minister for Training and Skills, said that the Act 'will also ensure that funding continues to be allocated to individual non-government schools on the basis of student need'. The factors that make up the statutory formula will be determined by further regulations.
That said, the changes have attracted criticism from some in the industry. The Age reports that 'some teachers, parents, and education officials have accused the government of betraying the principles of the Gonski funding reforms, which recommended a 'sector-blind' system where funding is allocated to students based on need'. Other critical responses to the new laws are reported in The Age's article.
The Act will preserve the existing administrative arrangements with the authorities that administer non-government schools. Bodies such as the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria will still be able to receive and distribute the funding to the schools that it administers as it sees fit, which includes distributing more funding to needier schools.
As part of the reforms, the government has established the School Policy and Funding Advisory Council (the SPFA Council). The SPFA Council will advise the Minister for Training and Skills about regulatory, policy and funding issues of government and non-government skills. It's membership will consist of:
Minister Herbert stated that the reforms deliver on the government's election promises to provide certainty of funding for non-government schools. He reiterated that non-government schools were an important part of the Victorian education system, with one third of Victorian students studying at either a Catholic or independent school.
The reforms are not without precedent in Australia. Recently, the NSW government introduced changes to the funding of non-government schools. The changes included a similar advisory committee and focused on probity issues associated with funding not-for-profit bodies.
Non-government schools in Victoria are already subject to requirements that they be not-for-profit, and have policies and procedures to ensure probity. Recent reforms, detailed in our previous article, also propose to give the schools regulator, the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority, additional powers to review a school's registration.
For more information, see the Explanatory Memorandum, or text of the Bill.