7 December 2022
A review into NT school funding methodology has been accepted by government.
The Department of Education engaged Deloitte to undertake an independent analysis of the current effective enrolment methodology used in the model to provide funding to schools.
The Territory Government has accepted the recommendations from the report, including the intent to change the funding methodology to be based on enrolment, rather than effective enrolment (enrolment plus attendance).
The report acknowledges that to move to an enrolment-based methodology will take time to implement. The report's findings are interconnected with concurrent policy reviews underway such as the Secondary School Review, and creating a funding model to better support students with a disability.
The NT Government currently provides the highest amount of funding per student in the country at over $15,100 on average and net overall with Australian Government funding totals $23,500 per student (in 2020).
The Northern Territory Government made a record investment this year of $1.185 billion to education with $558m going directly to schools. Our schooling system operates in a challenging geographical and socio-economic context. More than 70% of our schools are located in remote or very remote regions, and 27% of our schools have fewer than 50 students enrolled.
The summary report is available online at https://education.nt.gov.au/reviews-and-consultations here
Quotes from Minister for Education Eva Lawler
"It is important to acknowledge that the Northern Territory context is unlike any other jurisdiction in Australia in terms of student mobility and challenges to attendance which result in year-on-year variances in both attendance and enrolment for schools.
"The recommendations from the effective enrolment review will form part of a broader school funding reform package, which would also include recommendations from other reviews currently underway."
Northern Territory Government
