Portfolio — 25 March 2026

The Minister for Education used 25 March to lay out the first full accounting of the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, doing so across two streams on the same day: a ministerial media release tabling the initial annual progress report [TA-260325-educat-0e8b397c414d], and a ministerial statement to the House followed by a question time answer reinforcing the same data [TA-260325-house-8e0b2c08f739:s033].

The consistency across streams signals a deliberate communications strategy anchoring the agreement's one-year anniversary to measurable progress.

The agreement itself — a 10-year accord with all states and territories — commits an additional $16.5 billion over the first decade and $50 billion in the subsequent decade, locked in by legislation designed to prevent a future government from unwinding the funding floor [TA-260325-educat-0e8b397c414d]. The structural centrepiece is a shift in the Commonwealth's share of Schooling Resource Standard funding for public schools from 20 per cent to 25 per cent, with states and territories covering 75 per cent; the Northern Territory operates under a separate arrangement at 40 per cent Commonwealth funding [TA-260325-house-8e0b2c08f739:s033].

Eight measurable targets run to 2030–2035, covering reading and numeracy results, students needing additional support, Year 12 completion, national attendance, and First Nations teacher engagement [TA-260325-house-8e0b2c08f739:s033].

The Minister's central argument — foregrounded in both the media release and the ministerial statement — is that sustained funding and evidence-based reform are inseparable levers. The three reform pillars are: evidence-based teaching through phonics checks, numeracy checks and small-group tutoring; student wellbeing via mental health, bullying prevention and the forthcoming Thriving Kids program; and teaching workforce development through university curriculum redesign, Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships worth up to $40,000, and paid practical training [TA-260325-house-8e0b2c08f739:s033].

The equity case rests on NAPLAN data showing the reading-skill gap between eight-year-olds from wealthy and poor families has doubled from one year in 2008 to two years now, widening further to five years by middle high school, with 80 per cent of children below minimum standards at age eight still behind at fifteen [TA-260325-educat-0e8b397c414d].

On early indicators, the Minister pointed to three reversals in question time: high school completion rising from a low of 79 per cent back toward the prior peak of 85 per cent; attendance up from 86.5 per cent in 2022 to 88.8 per cent in 2025; and initial teacher education enrolments rebounding 20 per cent after a 22 per cent decline between 2017 and 2023, with a further 6.3 per cent increase this year [TA-260325-house-8e0b2c08f739:s167].

The sharpest illustration came from New South Wales phonics-check data: the proportion of Year 1 students on track with reading rose from 50 per cent three years ago to two-thirds last year nationally, with Five Dock Public School recording a jump from 50 per cent to 90 per cent [TA-260325-house-8e0b2c08f739:s167]. This year marks the first time every state and territory will implement the phonics check in Year 1, with most also rolling out or piloting a numeracy check [TA-260325-house-8e0b2c08f739:s167].

Two institutional developments surfaced in the ministerial statement that were not repeated in the media release: a proposal to phase out capital depreciation as a counted state contribution under the agreement, and consideration of an Australian Teaching and Learning Commission to consolidate national curriculum, testing, teacher standards and research under one body [TA-260325-house-8e0b2c08f739:s033].

The Productivity Commission's prior finding of an 'accountability deficit' in the predecessor National School Reform Agreement was cited directly to justify the new accountability architecture — annual implementation reports, a public dashboard, and an independent mid-term review from 2028 [TA-260325-house-8e0b2c08f739:s033]. Debate on the ministerial statement was referred to the Federation Chamber following the statement.