Victoria spends less on students as parents bridge the gap

Parents, teachers and principals at Victorian public schools are being forced to spend their own money to fill funding gaps, as school allocations per child continue to lag way below the rest of the nation.

Average state government funding per student in Victoria was $3600 less than in NSW in 2023-2024, according to the latest data from the Productivity Commission, with the underfunding straining household budgets.

The Victorian government’s recurrent spending fell to $20,125 per student in 2023-24 – $428 less than the previous year – according to the commission’s Report on Government Services, published on Tuesday night.

Comparably, Victoria’s spend on each student was $172 less than in South Australia – the next lowest contribution from a state government – and well below NSW and Queensland where students receive $23,725 and $21,876 respectively.

Details of the slide in recurrent spending is the latest insight into the state’s education funding, and comes after advocacy groups this week claimed the state government is using “accounting tricks” to leave a shortfall of more than 14 per cent on the agreed minimum funding standard under a two-year deal with the federal government.

Emma Rowe, an education funding researcher at Deakin University, said Victorian parents were paying more for their children to go to school.

“For parents who can’t foot the bill, they are the most impacted because students might not be able to attend excursions, incursions and things like that,” the associate professor said.

“I speak to principals who actually do the cleaning themselves because they can’t afford it and the budget is too tight. I know a principal who did their own painting in their school.”

Parents Victoria chief Gail McHardy said families were increasingly being asked to pay for basics.

“These aren’t optional extras. This is cost-shifting caused by chronic underfunding,” she said.

“We are hearing about parents struggling to pay or contribute even when they would like to. Cost-of-living pressures are real, and many families simply can’t afford to keep covering funding gaps.”

Victoria’s spending on teachers and staff across all school levels in 2023-24 was also the lowest in the nation at $14,533 per student, well below the national average of $16,376.

Australian Education Union Victorian Branch president Justin Mullaly said Victorian schools were left struggling to meet the full range of students’ learning and wellbeing needs.

“[This] can only be achieved if the massive funding shortfalls are fixed, so that high-quality provision doesn’t rely on many hours of unpaid overtime every week by the public education workforce,” Mullaly said.

“We have the lowest funded public schools and the lowest paid teachers in the country, with education support staff and school leaders undervalued. The premier and education minister cannot hope to keep experienced teachers in our schools, let alone attract the next generation to the profession, without full and fair funding.”

In response to questions from The Age, Education Minister Ben Carroll did not directly address Victoria’s funding per student, but said the state’s NAPLAN results and the school building pipeline were nation-leading.

“Victorian students are not only the top performing in the country but also performing better than at any other time on record,” he said. “Building schools is an investment in our kids’ future, and we have the largest school-building program in the country.”

The state is currently in negotiations with the federal government to finalise a bilateral agreement that will determine the rate of investment and key reform activities.

The state government is committed to funding government schools at 75 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard – a benchmark for recurrent funding needs – as part of the Better and Fairer Schools Funding Agreement it signed with the federal government in January 2025.

Opposition education spokesman Brad Rowswell said a Liberals-National government would prioritise funding per student by stopping wasteful spending and repairing the budget to invest in schools.

“We would focus on getting spending priorities right, backing teachers and education staff and ensuring resources are directed to where they’re needed most,” he said.

“Strong schools depend on attracting and retaining high-quality staff, and that requires the Victorian government to reconsider their priorities.”

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