Information about school finance

Notes on data sources for school finance

It is important when viewing the data to acknowledge the differences in methodology between all the different data sources. Comparisons can not be made across datasets, in particular the financial year, government expenditure-based (Report on Government services and National Schools Statistics Collection - Finance) and the calendar year, school-based (Australian Government financial questionnaire and My School finance collection) data collections.

School funding

  • Government funding
    • This data is presented as a financial year. Student numbers are the average full-time equivalent (FTE) student populations for the years being reported.
    • Source: Government Schools Finance Statistics Group, National Schools Statistics Collection (NSSC) – Finance 2022, unpublished; the Australian Government Department of Education (unpublished); Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision (SCRGSP), Report on Government Services 2024, Productivity Commission.
    • Government expenditure on school education as a proportion of GDP
      • Source: Derived by Australian Government Department of Education from ABS, Cat. No. 5518.0.55.001 (Table 1 and Table 19), Australia, Expenditure on Education.
      • Data for 1998–1999 and after are based on a revised methodology for calculating national accounts when compared with earlier years. Refer to ABS, 5253.0 - Information Paper: Upgraded Australian National Accounts 1998, for a detailed explanation of the changes.
  • School income
    • The school income data is aggregated from the My school finance collection. All data is collected for a calendar year and includes data for non-active schools where available.
    • Data is aggregated by the school attributes (state, school sector and geolocation) for the latest available year, rather than allowing minor changes in these attributes to impact on the time series
    • Non-systemic Catholic schools are schools which identify as Catholic but are not administered by or funded through the Catholic diocese and are run independently. In the My School data collection, a number of Catholic non-systemic schools, mainly in NSW, are classified as independent schools. This affects finance data for those states and nationally, for the Catholic and independent sectors reported in this data set. An option has been provided to allow the viewer to choose whether to include these non-systemic Catholic schools in the independent or Catholic sector in data views.
    • The methodology and other associated material related to My School finance data classification may be obtained from the My School website.
    • NRIPS (Net recurrent income per student) = Total gross income per student minus deductions per student.
    • Total gross income excludes income from government capital grants.
    • Income allocated to debt servicing includes principal repayments and interest on loans.
    • Source: ACARA, My School Finance Data Collection.

School expenditure

  • Government school expenditure
    • Reported amounts are total expenditure on government schools by state and territory governments and the Australian Government (National Schools Statistics Collection: Finance) in the financial year.
    • Expenditure incorporates both salary and non-salary costs. Non-salary costs include other operating expenses, grants and subsidies, and depreciation.
    • Salary on-costs include items such as superannuation, payroll tax and workers compensation.
    • There is a notional payroll tax for WA, Tas., Qld and the ACT, as schools in these jurisdictions are exempted from paying payroll tax.
    • In the government budget context, the user cost of capital is usually defined as the opportunity cost of funds tied up in capital assets used to deliver government services. Capital charging is the actual procedure used for applying this cost of capital to the asset management process. As such, it is a means of representing the cost of capital used in the provision of government budgetary outputs. A notional user cost of capital based on 8% of total written down value of capital assets as at 30 June of the relevant year is applied to all jurisdictions.
    • Depreciation and user cost of capital expenses relating to government schools have been attributed to states/territories based on ownership of the underlying assets. A portion of these assets would have been acquired through Australian Government capital contributions, with states and territories responsible for maintenance costs. Australian Government expenditure data in this table include only Australian Government specific purpose payments. Other Australian Government funding for schools and students is not included.
    • The data do not represent total government expenditure on school-level education. They specifically exclude items such as:
      • Commonwealth direct payments to parents and/or students
      • Preschools and TAFE establishments
      • Sinking fund payments and interest on Commonwealth loans
      • Teacher housing and student hostel provisions
      • Funds raised by schools, school councils or community organisations.
    • Components may not add to totals due to rounding.
    • Source: Government Schools Finance Statistics Group, National Schools Statistics Collection (NSSC) - Finance, 2022 (unpublished)
  • Non-government school expenditure
    • Excludes amounts related to boarding facilities, and direct payments by the Commonwealth to students and/or parents.
    • Includes recurrent and capital grants, debt servicing of loans for capital and operating purposes.
    • Capital expenditure excludes loan principal repayments.
    • Expenditure of system offices is allocated across the schools in proportion to enrolments.
    • Includes special schools.
    • Catholic independent schools (also known as non-systemic Catholic schools) are classified as Catholic schools for the purpose of this collection.
    • Components may not add to totals due to rounding.
    • Source: Australian Government Department of Education, Financial Questionnaire (unpublished)
  • Capital expenditure for all schools
    • For the MySchool Finance data, jurisdictions agreed to exclude all capital expenditure on the construction and acquisition of new schools where the expenditure was incurred in calendar years prior to the school becoming operational. There are generally 40-45 new schools opened each year, for which this change applies.
    • Data is aggregated by the school attributes (state, school sector and geolocation) for the latest available year, rather than allowing minor changes in these attributes to impact on the time series
    • Non-systemic Catholic schools are schools which identify as Catholic but are not administered by or funded through the Catholic diocese and are run independently. In the My School data collection, a number of Catholic non-systemic schools, mainly in NSW, are classified as independent schools. This affects finance data for those states and nationally, for the Catholic and independent sectors reported in this data set. An option has been provided to allow the viewer to choose whether to include these non-systemic Catholic schools in the independent or Catholic sector in data views.
    • The methodology and other associated material related to My School finance data classification may be obtained from the My School website.
    • Source: ACARA, My School Finance Data Collection.

Viewing data as a time series

When viewing data as a time series, values can be viewed as nominal (actual) values, or current (real) values with historical data adjust to account for inflation based on either the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the General Government Final Consumption Expenditure (GGFCE) chain price deflator, or the Wage Price Index (WPI), all sourced from the ABS.

  • Consumer Price Index (CPI)
    • Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (Sep-quarter-2023), Consumer Price Index, Australia, ABS Website, accessed 7 December 2023.
    • Index: All groups CPI, Original Quarterly Index, Weighted average of eight capital cities.
    • Financial year data is indexed using the June quarter index of the end year, while Calendar year data is indexed using the December quarter index of the year.
  • General Government Final Consumption Expenditure (GGFCE)
    • Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (September 2023), Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, ABS Website, accessed 7 December 2023.
    • Index: Final consumption expenditure, General Government, Original Quarterly Index, Australia.
    • Financial year data is indexed using the June quarter index of the end year, while Calendar year data is indexed using the December quarter index of the year.
  • Wage Price Index (CPI)
    • Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (September 2023), Wage Price Index, Australia, ABS Website, accessed 7 December 2023.
    • Index: Ordinary time hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses, Private and Public sector, Education and Training industry, Original Quarterly Index, Australia.
    • Financial year data is indexed using the June quarter index of the end year, while Calendar year data is indexed using the December quarter index of the year.