The Budget 2024-25 invests in all areas of education and prioritises equity and opportunity as the Government continues to build a better and fairer education system for all Australians.
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Higher Education
As part of the 2024–25 Budget, the Government is delivering on reforms recommended by the Australian Universities Accord.
This includes reforms to ease cost-of-living pressure on students, improve equity, and increase access to tertiary education opportunities for more Australians, particularly in outer suburban and regional areas.
Structural reforms will also be progressed to create a better and fairer tertiary education system that will help secure a Future Made in Australia.
Higher Education Loan Program – fairer indexation
The Australian Government has listened to students’ concerns and will make HELP fairer by improving the way indexation is calculated so that HELP debts do not grow faster than wages in the future.
Tell me moreNew Commonwealth Prac Payment
$427.4 million to introduce a new Commonwealth Prac Payment from 1 July 2025 to support eligible teaching, nursing and midwifery, and social work students in higher education and Vocational Education and Training as they undertake mandatory practicum placements.
Tell me moreFEE-FREE Uni Ready courses
$350.3 million in additional Commonwealth Grant Scheme funding over four years to fully fund FEE-FREE Uni Ready courses to provide more students with an enabling pathway into higher education.
Tell me moreAustralian Tertiary Education Commission
The Government has committed to establish the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) as an independent steward of Australia’s tertiary education system. The ATEC will work to drive growth and meet national skills needs through equity measures and create a cohesive and diverse tertiary education system.
Tell me moreTertiary Education Harmonisation
The Australian Government will invest $27.7 million over 4 years to 2027-28 in a range of initiatives to drive harmonisation between the higher education and Vocational Education and Training (VET) sectors.
Tell me moreManaged growth funding for universities
The Government will introduce a new funding system for Commonwealth supported places from 1 January 2026 to meet student demand, maintain sustainable growth, and increase opportunities for people from under-represented backgrounds.
Tell me moreNeeds-based university funding
The Government will introduce new Needs-based Funding System to better support students from underrepresented backgrounds participate and succeed in higher education.
Tell me moreStudent Services and Amenities Fee – revenue allocation
The Government will require higher education providers to allocate a minimum of 40% of the Student Services and Amenities Fee revenue to student-led organisations, including student associations, student unions and student guilds.
Tell me moreCharles Darwin University medical school
The Government will provide $24.6 million for Charles Darwin University to establish a medical school from 2026 to help build a health workforce to support the Northern Territory’s unique health challenges.
Tell me moreInternational Education and Skills Strategic Framework
The Government will develop a new International Education and Skills Strategic Framework for a managed system to deliver sustainable growth over time, and improve the quality and integrity of Australia’s international education sector.
Tell me moreRacism study in universities
The Australian Government will commission a study into racism in the higher education sector; investigating the prevalence, nature and impact of individual and systemic racism across higher education institutions.
Tell me moreSchools
The Australian Government is committed to working with state and territory governments to get all public schools on a path to 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard. It has signed Statements of Intent worth an estimated $785.4 million for Western Australia to fully fund all public schools in the state by 2026, and an estimated $736.7 million for the Northern Territory to fully fund all public schools in the territory by 2029.
The Budget 2024-25 includes an estimated $126.4 billion over 2024–25 to 2027–28 in recurrent school funding. In 2024, the Government is providing $29.2 billion in recurrent funding for all schooling sectors.
First Nations education and Closing the Gap
The Government is investing in partnerships with First Nations Education Peak Organisations, supporting development of a new National First Nations Education Policy and other initiatives to accelerate Indigenous education outcomes to better meet Closing the Gap objectives.
- $12.5 million to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation and $16.6 million to SNAICC – National Voice for our Children, to reach formal partnership agreements and drive the delivery of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap Priority Reforms.
- $32.8 million to the Clontarf Foundation to continue supporting up to 12,500 First Nations boys and young men to make school more attractive, engaging and purposeful.
- $2.4 million to develop and implement the First Nations Teacher Strategy to help attract and retain First Nations teachers.
Teacher Resource Hubs
$34.6 million to make evidence-based curriculum and student wellbeing support and professional development materials available for free to all teachers and school leaders through a suite of Teacher Resource Hubs.
Tell me moreOnline National Assessment Platform
$7.9 million to support the Online National Assessment Platform and the continued delivery of the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN).
Tell me moreGood To Great Schools Australia
$5.3 million to extend Good to Great Schools Australia’s English, Maths and Science pilot in some of the nation’s most disadvantaged school communities for two additional school years – in 2025 and 2026.
Tell me moreAustralian Schools Anti-Bullying Collective
$4.2 million over four years to the Australian Schools Anti-Bullying Collective to continue delivering anti-bullying programs.
Tell me moreTogether For Humanity
$4.0 million to the Together For Humanity program to strengthen student wellbeing and social cohesion and increase activities to address all forms of discrimination in schools.
Tell me moreEarly Childhood Education and Care
The Government’s Cheaper Child Care efforts has provided more affordable care and benefitted more than a million families.
The Budget continues to build on these initiatives by investing:
Child Care Subsidy reforms - strong, sustainable foundations
- $98.6 million to bolster education, audit and compliance activities to strengthen the payment and accuracy of the Child Care Subsidy program.
- And $30 million over 2 years from 2024–25 in IT and payment services to deliver on the Government’s commitment to provide funding towards a wage increase for the ECEC sector. This will support a response to Fair Work Commission processes as they relate to this sector.
Inclusion Support Program
An additional $98.4 million into the Inclusion Support Program (ISP) to help early childhood education and care services increase their capacity to support inclusion of children with disabilities and additional needs.
Tell me more2024-25 Education Portfolio Budget Statements
The 2024-25 Department of Education Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS) provide information on the proposed allocation of funds to achieve government outcomes. They include budget statements for the department as well as entities working under the portfolio.
The statements provide information to assist parliament to understand the purpose of each outcome. The Education Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS) were tabled on 14 May 2024.
