Get ready for a seismic shift in Australian education. After a decade of systemic underfunding, a new era is dawning with the Full and Fair School Funding Agreement (FFFA), the bedrock of the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement. This isn’t a band-aid; it’s looking like a 10-year structural overhaul (2025–2034), finally guaranteeing that every government school will reach 100% of the minimum Schooling Resource Standard (SRS).
The Commonwealth is backing this vision with a colossal $16.5 billion in extra investment, solidifying its 25% contribution to the SRS. But here’s the kicker: this money comes with a contract for reform. The funding is strictly tied to implementing 10 National Reform Directions across three critical pillars. Equity and Excellence, Wellbeing, and Workforce. With ambitious national targets set for 2030 and 2035, the FFFA demands more than just financial adequacy; it mandates a nationwide upgrade to our classrooms, student outcomes, and teacher pipeline. The countdown to a truly fair education system is on.
Historical Context and the Mandate for Structural Reform
The policy landscape leading up to the BFSA was characterised by a critical failure to implement the core promise of needs-based funding outlined in the 2011 Gonski Review. The Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) was conceived as the benchmark for the minimum funding required to meet the educational needs of students, established by analysing the funding levels of schools achieving high outcomes. A decade later, the majority of public schools continued to operate below this minimum standard, leading to chronic under-resourcing.
This persistent shortfall generated profound adverse effects across the public education system. Analysis indicates that decades of underfunding resulted in a vast number of excluded students, a situation deemed morally indefensible in a wealthy nation like Australia.
The tangible consequences of this fiscal deficit included widespread teacher shortages, necessitating practices like merged classes, which 80 per cent of surveyed teachers reported experiencing in the preceding year. Furthermore, the lack of adequate resources, particularly specialist support like counsellors, contributed to a decline or significant decline in both student wellbeing (reported by over half of teachers) and teacher morale (reported by over 85 per cent of teachers). The systemic crisis was exemplified by excessive workloads, with 70 per cent of teachers working more than 40 hours per week, severely compromising the retention pipeline, with only 22 per cent committed to remaining in the profession until retirement.
The explicit detailing of this severe systemic distress, particularly the widespread teacher shortages and the retention collapse, proved essential in overcoming the political resistance that had previously stalled funding agreements.
The scale of the system failure, shifting the perception of the problem from a mere fiscal deficit to a national human capital crisis, rendered the commitment to 100 per cent SRS and the $16.5 billion investment politically necessary and unavoidable.
Crucially, fulfilling these reform directions, particularly those related to leadership, student wellbeing, and workforce sustainability, requires a concerted focus on the professional development of existing educators. Professionals who pursue advanced, flexible postgraduate education, such as a master of education online, are best positioned to develop the evidence-based strategies and leadership acumen necessary to drive change and address the systemic issues detailed in this agreement.
Policy Drivers: The Call for a Better and Fairer System
The BFSA was developed specifically to replace the expired National School Reform Agreement (NSRA) of 2018, which concluded on 31 December 2024, and the subsequent Interim School Funding Agreement. The new Agreement was informed directly by comprehensive governmental and independent analysis, including the findings and recommendations of the Review to Inform a Better and Fairer Education System and the Productivity Commission’s Review of the National School Reform Agreement.
Initial negotiations for the BFSA encountered significant jurisdictional disagreement, primarily centred on the Commonwealth’s share of government school funding. Several states initially refused to sign the Agreement, arguing the federal contribution should be explicitly raised to 25 per cent of the SRS, rather than the lower figure proposed. The funding deadlock was eventually resolved in early 2025. Following agreements with South Australia and Victoria, clauses within the bilateral agreements ensured that all states and territories (including Western Australia, Tasmania, and the ACT) became eligible for the same guaranteed increase.
The Engine of Needs-Based Funding
The SRS is the foundation for all Australian Government recurrent funding arrangements. It specifies the minimum cost of delivering high-quality education, differentiated by student cohort. For 2025, the base SRS funding amounts are established at $13,991 for primary students and $17,582 for secondary students, which are indexed annually to keep pace with operational costs.
Critically, the SRS includes significant additional funds, known as loadings, to support students requiring more intensive resources due to specific disadvantages. These loadings are applied independently of a non-government school’s Capacity to Contribute (CTC) and include four student-based categories: the student with disability loading, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander loading, the socio-educational disadvantage loading, and the low-English proficiency loading, alongside two school-based loadings. These equity loadings are the primary mechanism through which needs-based funding is delivered. For instance, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander loading ranges from 20 per cent to 120 per cent of the SRS base amount, contingent upon the concentration of First Nations students within the school, demonstrating a targeted approach to address complex historical and systemic inequities.
Under the Full and Fair Funding Agreement, the division of responsibility for public school funding is formally restructured to guarantee 100 per cent SRS funding.
