4 November 2026
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What can Australia's school funding system teach us about the future of funding for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)?
Episode 6 of the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA)’s Early Years Dialogue series explores Australia's school funding model, the effectiveness of needs-based funding and the potential lessons it may offer for the future funding of early learning.
Nearly a decade after the Gonski 2.0 review, Australia's needs-based school funding model is often regarded as one of the fairest approaches to distributing education funding. But how well is it working in practice? And importantly, is the government funding of education designed to deliver the best possible outcomes for our children, or simply to meet a minimum standard?
Hosted by Ticker News presenter Ahron Young, the latest episode brings together ACA President Paul Mondo and Pete Goss, former School Education Program Director at the Grattan Institute and contributor to the landmark Gonski 2.0 review, for an insightful discussion about the successes and shortcomings of Australia's school funding system.
The conversation explores the rationale behind the Gonski recommendations, how school funding is calculated and distributed through the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS), and the ongoing challenges of addressing educational disadvantage. It also considers whether alternative approaches to funding allocation and indexation could deliver better outcomes for students.
Pete Goss also shares his insights into the relationship between educational disadvantage and student achievement, including research highlighting how students of similar ability can experience significantly different educational outcomes, depending on the schools they attend.
What does this mean for early childhood education and care?
With growing discussion about the potential introduction of needs-based funding in early childhood education and care, this important episode considers whether lessons from the school system could help inform future funding reform for the ECEC sector.
Paul Mondo explores the parallels between school education and early learning, including the importance of recognising the different needs of children, families and communities when designing funding models.
The discussion also raises broader questions about how government funding can support equitable access to quality early education while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the services delivering it.
With ECEC funding reform firmly on the national policy agenda, this episode offers valuable insights into how the government can develop a more equitable, effective and sustainable funding system for our sector, to deliver even better outcomes for all children.
To hear the full conversation between Paul Mondo and Neil Leitch OBE, watch the latest episode of ACA's Early Years Dialogue here.
About Early Years Dialogue
ACA’s Early Years Dialogue brings together sector leaders, experts and those working across early learning to explore the issues, experiences and conversations shaping our sector and its future.
Through the series, ACA is investing in new ways to keep important sector conversations going, bring different perspectives together and ensure the experiences of those working in early learning are part of the national conversation.
You can watch previous episodes of Early Years Dialogue here.
