Objective

Funding under the Literacy, Numeracy and Special Learning Needs (LNSLN) program is targeted at the most educationally disadvantaged schools students, including special school students, from Prep (or equivalent) to year 12 who may face barriers to effective participation at school and who:

• (a) are not achieving or are at risk of not achieving the national minimal standard of literacy and/or numeracy or other appropriate standard of achievement; and/or

• (b) require additional assistance to reach an appropriate standard of achievement.

Educational disadvantage may be associated with a range of factors such as a disability or learning difficulty, a language background other than English, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background, low socio-economic background or geographical isolation.

The LNSLN program assists non-government education authorities to improve the learning outcomes of educationally disadvantaged students, including students with disabilities, particularly in literacy and numeracy, by contributing funding for additional teaching and learning assistance.

The LNSLN program is the main source of targeted Australian Government funding to the non-government sector which aims to improve the literacy and numeracy outcomes of students who are educationally disadvantaged.

Legislation

LNSLN funding is provided under the Schools Assistance Act 2008.  This Act received Royal Assent on 11 December 2008. 

The Act provides financial assistance for non government primary and secondary education for the 2009 to 2012 period.  The relevant sections under the Schools Assistance Act 2008 are:  Sections 96, 97, 98 and 99.

Administrative Guidelines

The Administrative Guidelines: Commonwealth Programs for Non-government schools, 2009-2012 provides an overview of the funding arrangements and details key aspects of the new performance and accountability framework for the 2009-2012 period.

Allocative Mechanism

The Commonwealth uses a composite allocative mechanism for determining the LNSLN funding allocations.  The LNSLN funding consists of the following components:

Recurrent component

• The socio-economic disadvantage (SES) component uses the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Index of Relative Socio Economic Disadvantage (IRSED) and ABS School Enrolment data for the 125,000 most disadvantage students;
• The Language Background other than English (LBOTE) component uses ABS Census data of students with LBOTE characteristics;
• The special education component uses each sector’s latest share of the non-government school enrolments; and

Per Capita component

• Uses the eligible number of students with disabilities as reported in the Schools Census.

Key Dates

• Initial allocation announcements are made between January – February of each calendar year
• Final announcements, including supplementation, are made between October – December of each calendar year.
• Targeted Funding Agreements need to be signed by both the Department and the education authorities in each state and territory for the relevant funding period prior to payments.
• Payments are made on a quarterly basis.

Payment Arrangements

Under the new arrangements for 2009, payments to non-government education authorities will be made through the Commonwealth Treasury.  The Department will make a payment to Commonwealth Treasury on the 1st and 15th of each month. 

Commonwealth Treasury will forward these payments to the state and territory governments on the 7th and 21st of each month.  The state and territory governments will in turn pass the funding to the respective non-government education authorities.

Financial accountability for program funding

Non-government education authorities in each state and territory are responsible for the detailed administration of the LNSLN funding in their systems and schools.

School education authorities have the flexibility to make decisions on which schools, including special schools, have the greatest need for additional assistance for educationally disadvantaged students and to determine appropriate funding amounts for those schools.  Schools have the flexibility to use funding innovatively to meet the needs of their students.

The Commonwealth requires the non-government education authorities to take the following three principles into account when managing the LNSLN funding:

• a. equity (ensuring resources are targeted at students with the greatest need);
• b. effectiveness (ensuring that resources are used to support effective instructional approaches); and
• c. efficiency (ensuring that resources are not consumed in administrative procedures).