The Greens want to scrap voluntary public school payments andfor supplies like uniforms and laptops.
Independent analysis has shown nearly a third of Australian parents can’t afford back-to-school expenses.
The party is preparing for the possibility of negotiating with major parties to form a minority government at the next federal election.
The Labor Government said its tax cuts have done more to help people with the cost of living than a one-off payment would.
Public school fees
Australian public schools don’t charge fees for attendance.
However, they regularly ask parents for “voluntary contributions” for a range of expenses, including classroom and excursion costs.
Primary school fees average around $250 a year, while secondary school hovers at $600 annually, according to analysis by financial comparison site Finder.
Uniforms, pens, calculators, textbooks, and exercise books are estimated to annually cost $700 per primary school student on average and $1,150 for a high school student.
Some states offer vouchers and payment plans to help parents pay these expenses.
For example, the Victorian Government offered parents atto help pay for 2025 school expenses.
Greens plan
have unveiled a policy proposal to abolish voluntary payments altogether.
The party cited Finder analysis showing school fees increased by more than 20% between 2021 and 2022.
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It said this would be achieved through spending $2.4 billion over four years to fully fund public schools.
Greens Education spokesperson Penny Allman-Payne said: “Public school should be free, but families are having to dig deeper and deeper as fees have increased”.
The Greens have also proposed an annual $800 payment to help families pay for uniforms and laptops.
Independent analysis from the Parliamentary Budget Office, an agency which estimates the cost of political parties’ proposals, showed this would cost roughly $7.7 billion over four years.
Allman-Payne said “it shouldn’t cost thousands of dollars” to equip a child to go to school.
As a former teacher, she said some teachers “dip into their own pockets to pay for classroom basics.”
Minority Government
Greens leader Adam Bandt said: “Scrapping so-called ‘voluntary’ fees and securing back to school payments will be on the table in a minority Parliament.”
The Greens currently hold four of 151 seats in the Lower House, and 12 Senate seats.
A federal election must be held by 17 May. If neither the Labor nor the Coalition wins the 76 seats needed for a majority, both would have to negotiate with the Greens, other minor parties, or independents to govern.
Response
Education Minister Jason Clare said the Government had provided “real cost-of-living relief for families with children going back to school this year,” through the stage 3 tax cuts.
In a statement to TDA, Clare said some families would be receiving “more than double” the $800 offered by the Greens. He did not confirm whether the party would consider the proposal as part of a minority government negotiation.
Shadow Education Minister Sarah Henderson called the Greens’ plan “inflationary and economically reckless”.
