The dire outlook for household prosperity was not the only grim verdict for Australians when Treasurer Jim ChalmersThe dismal picture of a poorer future was painted with care, drop by drop in the news cycle this week, to make sure nobody missed the Intergenerational Report when it arrived on Thursday.
Stronger growth, and higher household income, will not be possible without better education. The government is planning to follow the Intergenerational Report with a plan for the Australian workforce – an employment white paper, the outcome of a migration review, and the next tranche of workplace relations law. The next step will be an overhaul of school funding.The school tests build the case for a new funding agreement that delivers more help to the schools with the worst performance.
Education Minister Jason Clare – who went to Canley Vale High School in western Sydney – is sending an unmistakable message that school funding has to change in a new agreement with the states next year. The federal agenda will be about bringing public schools up to the funding standard defined under the Gonski reforms of the past decade. The government estimates that public schools are on track to reach 95 per cent of the funding standard, with the states contributing 75 per cent and Canberra offering the other 20 per cent.
The school funding changes will start to take shape from October, when Clare receives a report from an expert panel led by Lisa O’Brien, a former chief executive of the Smith Family. Then he meets state and territory education ministers in December to talk money.