The ongoing funding dispute between the Victorian and Commonwealth governments revolves around the Gonski funding model, which introduced a Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) to determine the necessary government funding for schools to cater to student needs. The Commonwealth government is currently pledging to increase its share of funding for public schools from 20 to 22.5%, but Victoria is pushing for a higher contribution to bridge the existing gap, amounting to $300 million or approximately $1,000 per student.
Victoria has taken a firm stance, rejecting the Commonwealth's offer of a 2.5% increase and insisting on a 5% rise to reach the 100% threshold advocated by Gonski. This disagreement has led to a stalemate, with the federal government's funding for private schools also coming under scrutiny by the Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll, who argues that the current funding distribution is unfair, particularly the 80% share allocated to private schools compared to the 20% for government schools.
Mr. Carroll has raised concerns about the funding disparity between private and public schools, highlighting the current system where the Commonwealth government contributes 80% of each private school’s SRS and at least 20% of each government school’s SRS. He argues that this allocation is imbalanced and calls for a more equitable distribution of funds, especially considering the significant financial support received by some private schools. Additionally, the National Catholic Education Commission responded to Mr. Carroll's criticisms, pointing out the Capacity to Contribute (CTC) method used to calculate funding, which considers the income levels of parents and guardians at a school to determine the funding amount.