The Federal Government has released its first ‘report card’ tracking progress on its national school reforms, which were green lighted by every state and territory in 2025.
The Better and Fairer Schools Agreement (BFSA) was launched in July 2024 with the aim of fully funding all of Australia’s public schools to 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) – the needs-based model that sets base funding per student, with extra loadings for disadvantage.
The agreement marks the biggest new investment by an Australian Government in public education ever, committing additional $16.5bn in public schools across the country over the next decade and an extra $50bn in the decade after that.
The funding is tied to specific reforms, such as lifting attendance, improving literacy and numeracy, and boosting completion rates. This includes evidence-based teaching, early phonics and numeracy checks, targeted tutoring, and stronger support for student wellbeing and teacher capability.
Green shoots
The new report card reveals higher rates of school graduation, attendance, teacher retention and student outcomes in NAPLAN.
High school completion rates declined from a peak of 84.8% in 2017 to 79.1% in 2023, but are now beginning to recover. Attendance followed a similar trajectory, falling from 92.7% in 2014 to 86.5% in 2022, with early signs of improvement emerging.
Teacher workforce trends mirror this pattern. Enrolments in teaching degrees dropped 22% between 2017 and 2023, before rebounding by 20% in recent years. Preliminary data for this year shows domestic undergraduate offers rising a further 6.3%.
Meanwhile, the latest NAPLAN results indicate improved student outcomes, particularly in numeracy.
In a statement today, Minister Clare said while the report card shows good news, “it’s just the start”.
“There’s a lot more work to do, and that’s what this Agreement is all about.”