To be eligible for recurrent expenditure funding from the Commonwealth Government, a school must be registered as a state or territory school and must have commenced providing education. The authority approved to run the school must be not-for-profit, must be incorporated and must have entered into a funding agreement with the Commonwealth Government, which governs the use of funding.
Grants for recurrent expenditure are provided to approved non-government schools and systems according to their level of education and locations. A summary of grants provided to non-government schools under the Schools Assistance Act 2008 is available.
Recurrent expenditure funding for non-government schools is based on the Socioeconomic Status (SES) of the school community. The SES funding model links student residential addresses to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census of Population and Housing data to obtain a socioeconomic profile of the school community and measure its capacity to support the school.
More information about SES funding arrangements can be found at SES Funding Help.
For 2009-2012, non-government schools are either funded based on their SES score (with ‘funding guarantee’ transitional arrangements where a school’s new SES score results in lower per capita funding in 2009-2012) or ‘funding maintained’ at the level of funding they received prior to implementation of the SES funding arrangements.
A non-government school may receive maximum SES funding (70 per cent of the relevant Average Government School Recurrent Costs amount) without regard to an SES score, if it is:
- a Special School
- a Special Assistance School
- a Majority Indigenous Student School.
Special Schools and Special Assistance Schools must be recognised by their state or territory Education Minister as providing special programs or special activities for students with disabilities (in the case of Special Schools) or as primarily catering for students with social, emotional or behavioural difficulties (in the case of Special Assistance Schools).
To be considered a Majority Indigenous Student School in any program year, a non-government school must have 80 per cent or more Indigenous enrolments, or be a very remote school with 50 per cent or more Indigenous enrolments.
A very remote school is a single campus school located in a very remote area or a multiple campus school with all its campuses located in very remote areas.
For the 2009-2012 funding period, remoteness is classified using the Remoteness Structure for census year 2006, which is part of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Australian Standard Geographical Classification, based on the Census Collection District (CD) in which the school or school campus is located.
For any queries about approving schools or the payment of recurrent expenditure funding, call 1800 677 027 and choose option 2 when prompted, then option 2 again.
For information about SES scores or the SES funding arrangements, call 1800 677 027 and choose option 4 when prompted.
For more information see: