Government schools (also known as public schools) are free to attend for Australian citizens and permanent residents, while Catholic and independent schools usually charge attendance fees. All Australian schools are required to adhere to the same curriculum frameworks of their state or territory.
Government schools are mostly free for Australian citizens and permanent residents. Some schools charge a “voluntary contribution” or donation fee, which can range from AU $60 to as much as AU $1,000. You're not legally required to pay the donation fee, but schools encourage you to do so.
You are not required to make payments or voluntary financial contributions to your school. Schools cannot refuse your child instruction in the standard curriculum if you do not contribute.
Abolition of university fees
During the early 1970s, there was a significant push to make tertiary education in Australia more accessible to working and middle class Australians. The Whitlam Labor government abolished university fees on 1 January 1974.
State and territory governments provide most of the public recurrent funding for government schools.
Almost all domestic undergraduate students, and postgraduate students pay a fee to complete their studies. However, most Australian students are Commonwealth supported, meaning they are not liable to pay the full tuition fee for a course. The Australian government pays a portion of the tuition fee.
How much does public school cost in Australia? The national average total cost of a public school education if a child goes to school from age 5 – 16 is $68,613. That means about $109 for every week of their school years. How much do Australian private schools cost?
The Education Act of 1872 was the first of its kind in the world. The first in the Australian colonies. Education was free and compulsory, so the whole community would benefit. All children aged 6-15 years had to attend school unless they had a reasonable excuse.
Public high schools are free to attend. However, you are usually asked to pay a voluntary school levy per student per year. You will also need to pay for uniforms, some books and extra-curricular subjects and activities such as school camps and excursions. Fees for private schooling vary widely.
Australia is home to 6 of the world's top 100 universities. It has over 40 universities, each offering a wide range of academic programs to choose from. Certain academic institutes also provide internships and paid employment options. More than 15 Nobel laureates have come out of Australian universities.
Your child must go to school until they are 17 years old. If your child wants to leave before they are 17 for another program or employment, there are certain requirements that must be met. These must be approved by the department. Parents can be prosecuted if they do not make sure their child goes to school.
If you don't go to school or take part in your agreed form of education or training, your parents can be fined and even taken to court. There are a few exceptions to this, like if you are home-schooled or you or your parents apply for and get special permission.
Parents can be fined if a school-age child doesn't go to school, unless there is a reasonable excuse. A reasonable excuse includes: the child lives with parent A and parent B has good reason to believe that parent A is sending the child to school.
Dependants of Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training students are treated as international students and pay full fees. The only exceptions are dependants of Australian Aid students and some PhD home country scholarship students as agreed with Charles Darwin University.
School education in Australia includes preschool, preparatory (or kindergarten), primary school, secondary school (or high school) and senior secondary school (or college).
The authors found: "The results demonstrate that private schools are not associated with systematically higher average student achievement in primary or secondary school, nor with steeper trajectories of reading and numeracy from Year 3 to Year 9."
In Australia, NSW and Victoria both run targeted free breakfast programs, with Victoria expanding their free breakfast program to 1,000 schools in 2020. Meanwhile, ACT Labor recently announced a trial of free breakfast and lunch three days a week for students at five public schools.
The Australian public accesses care within the public health system for free or at a lower cost through Medicare (funded by tax). The private system includes health service providers that are owned and managed privately, such as private hospitals, specialist medical and allied health, and pharmacies.
In 1872 the Victorian Government passed the Education Act 1872, which set up the colony's public school system. This new legislation made Victoria the first Australian colony to offer free, secular and compulsory education to its children.
Every child in Australia can have free or subsidised education in a preschool or kindergarten ('kindy') the year before they start school. This article will help you locate a suitable preschool and find out how to pay for it.
The average tuition fee in Australia, as per Shiksha Study Abroad databank, is 45-50% cheaper than in America and so are the living expenses. The annual average living expense in Australia for international students is between AUD 30,000 to AUD 34,000.
Topping the list as Australia's most expensive private school is likely Victoria's Geelong Grammar School for the second consecutive year. Tuition for year 10 - 12 students at the elite secondary school will set parents back $46,020 a year in 2023, up 5.4 per cent on 2022.
Highest and median school fee by state
Several NSW schools like SCEGGS Darlinghurst, Sydney Grammar School, The Scots College, The King's School, Ascham and PLC Sydney are all charging upwards of $40,000 in 2023.
Most university degrees in Australia are paid for by both students and the commonwealth (federal) government. The government subsidises the full cost of the degree, and students pay the rest.