Minister for Education and Early Childhood Yvette Berry has today announced the appointment of an Expert Panel to provide independent advice on ACT public school resourcing.
"I look forward to receiving the Expert Panel's advice on how we make best use of funding across the public school system to ensure our children and young people are receiving a quality education," Minister Berry said.
"The ACT Public School System Resourcing Review will give recommendations about how to most effectively and efficiently use provided school funding. In addition, the Expert Panel will explore the best model of central support services for schools given our small jurisdiction of soon-to-be 93 schools."
ACT public schools funding is currently informed by the national Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) based on student enrolments. Our jurisdiction continues to be the only jurisdiction to fund our public schools not just up to, but above, the national School Resourcing Standard.
The review will help us understand how we can achieve equitable resourcing across the ACT public school system to make sure all students are well supported," Minister Berry said.
"The Government recognises our schools are catering for increasingly diverse cohorts of students with complex needs. Delivering a great education requires a well-resourced system with the right supports for all our students, families and staff."
Budget planning work carried out with schools in term 3 will help inform this work.
The members of the System Resourcing Review are:
Professor Ken Smith AO (Chair)
A senior public service leader with more than 40 years' experience, including serving as head Queensland's Department of Education and as CEO and Dean of ANZSOG. Current Professor of Practice at QUT.
Julie Sonnemann
Economist and former Deputy Program Director and School Education Fellow at the Grattan Institute and Lead Education Policy Expert at Impact Economics & Policy.
Associate Professor Anna Hogan
Former secondary school teacher and now ARC research fellow at QUT's School of Education, with research interests in education policy and practice. Lead editor of the Journal of Education Policy and an Associate Editor of the Australian Educational Researcher.
Hayley McQuire
Proud Darumbal and South Sea Islander woman, she is a co-founder and CEO of the National Indigenous Youth Education Coalition. Hayley is co-chair of Learning Creates Australia, an independent non-profit dedicated to removing structural barriers that compound education inequality.
Dr Bill Maiden PSM OAM
Retired public school principal, former deputy chair of the ACT Non-Government Schools Education Council and former chair of the ACT Teacher Quality Institute Board and Adjunct Professor of Education at University of Canberra.
The Expert Panel will engage with stakeholders through an advisory group comprising representatives from unions, ACT Parents, ACT Principals Association, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, Association of School Business Managers ACT and ACT Government directorates.
The Expert Panel's report and the Government's response will be tabled in the Legislative Assembly by May 2026.
The Terms of Reference and more information about the Expert Panel's members can be found at: https://www.act.gov.au/directorates-and-agencies/education-directorate.
