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The Coalition Government is providing record funding for child care, schools and universities and will invest new funding in targeted programs to support stronger educational outcomes as part of our plan for a stronger future.

About one million Australian families are being supported by record levels of child care funding, with $11.0 billion forecast to be spent in 2022-23, including $10.7 billion on the Child Care Subsidy alone. This is supported by the early delivery of increased Child Care Subsidy support for families with two or more children aged five years or under.

Australian schools also continue to receive record funding, with $25.3 billion in funding in 2022, and $318.9 billion over the period 2018 to 2029.

Funding for higher education will be $20 billion in 2022-23, a record level of annual funding, which will continue to grow over the forward estimates.

Acting Minister for Education and Youth Stuart Robert said the Government’s Budget delivers on initiatives that promote excellence, access and equity in education.

‘Quality education is a key driver of opportunity for all Australians and is a cornerstone commitment of the Government’s plan for the future,’ Minister Robert said.

‘Our Budget supports choice in school, and early childhood education, particularly for families in regional and remote communities, and funds initiatives to assist students whose schooling was disrupted by COVID-19 – and more recently the major floods – and who may be at risk of falling behind or disengaging from education.

‘These measures build on the recent commitment of immediate flood support payments worth $10,000 to eligible child care providers in flood-affected areas, and the expansion of assistance available to providers through the Community Child Care Fund (CCCF) Special Circumstances program.

‘A new $37.4 million research translation program to be delivered through the CSIRO also adds another critical element to the Government’s $2.2 billion University Research Commercialisation Action Plan to accelerate economic and employment growth in Australia.

‘This budget confirms our strong commitment to supercharging university innovation and industry collaboration, with more than $1.2 billion to be invested in research commercialisation opportunities over the next 5 years alone.’

Minister for Regionalisation, Regional Communications and Regional Education Bridget McKenzie said new measures would assist boarding providers to better support the needs and educational outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boarding students, and help more families with the costs.

‘Boarding school is an important option for many families, particularly families in rural or remote communities where there are few, if any, local secondary school options,’ Minister McKenzie said.

‘As well as funding to support Indigenous boarding providers, a new regional scholarship program will be established to help meet the cost of boarding school fees and will assist up to 200 students from regional and remote communities.

‘Funding will also support more teachers in regional and remote schools to develop their expertise and leadership skills, which is critical to building strong school communities and supporting better educational outcomes for our students,’ Minister McKenzie said.

‘A further open round of the Community Child Care Fund will also be held to support the establishment of up to 20 new child care services in regional and remote communities, where access to quality child care services is needed most.’

2022-23 Budget – Education & Regional Education

Early childhood education and care

• $19.4 million to support more child care places in regional, rural and remote Australia supporting families to access services and boosting women’s workforce participation.

Boarding schools and regional and remote scholarship support

• $17.3 million to extend a grants program to assist Indigenous boarding providers to better support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boarding students and improve their educational outcomes.
• A new $10.9 million Commonwealth Regional Scholarship Program will assist up to 200 families from low-SES communities with the cost of boarding school fees. Eligible families will receive $15,000 per student each year for three years.

Emerging Priorities Program Expansion

• A further $10.4 million will be provided through the Emerging Priorities Program to fund a greater number of projects that assist school communities to respond to emerging priorities, including recovery from COVID-19.

Engaged school classrooms

• $7.2 million will be invested in measures that support inclusive, respectful school classroom environments so that teachers can help their students to achieve their full potential and improve education outcomes.

Respectful relationships, and student wellbeing and mental health

• $6.0 million will support the continued delivery of evidence-based and age-appropriate respectful relationship education materials for primary and secondary school students that align with the Australian Curriculum.
• $6.1 million to support Life Education Australia to develop educational materials for younger students, covering important issues such as cyberbullying, respect for others, and respectful relationships.
• $5.0 million for the Australian Human Rights Commission to undertake a national survey of secondary school-age students on important issues related to consent education.
• $9.7 million will be directed in new measures to help teachers and school leaders to better understand and respond to the mental health and wellbeing needs of students

Extension of ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ School Reform Funding

• An additional $62.4 million will be provided to continue support to projects that enable better student educational outcomes through the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ School Reform Fund and the Non-Government Reform Support Fund.