Almost half of all parents with children in Australia’s private schools would consider moving them to the public system if it were better resourced, a new survey shows.
The Lonergan Research survey, commissioned by the Greens, polled more than 1,000 parents nationally with children enrolled from kindergarten to year 12.
Of those with children at private schools, 48% of respondents agreed they would consider moving to a public school if they were better resourced, rising to 61% for parents with multiple children across both systems.
Six in 10 (63%) parents agreed public schools were underfunded.
The findings came as the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics schools data revealed the proportion of Australian children enrolling in public schools was continuing to decline despite cost-of-living pressures hitting families.
The proportion of students enrolled in government schools dropped from just over 68% in 2002 to 64.5% last year.
The federal education minister, Jason Clare, said if enrolment data was “not proof” of why serious reform was needed in education “I don’t know what is”.
“I want public education to be the first choice of parents,” he said. “Funding is critical but so is what it does.”
The Independent Schools Australia chief executive, Graham Catt, said all sectors should be fully funded. But resourcing was not the only reason there was a continued decline in public school enrolments, he said.
“The growth we are seeing in independent school enrolments is across the board – different types of schools with different levels of fees and across the country,” Catt said.
“We believe multiple factors are influencing parents’ choices and quality education is certainly an important one. Other factors include facilities and alignment of values or religion.”
The Greens senator and schools spokesperson, Penny Allman-Payne, said the results were a “damning indictment” of neglect in the public system.
“It reveals that many parents aren’t ‘choosing’ private schools – they’re being left with no choice at all.
“Governments should not be in the business of spending public money to subsidise a private system that leaches resources from public schools and entrenches inequality.”
In July Guardian Australia revealed real government funding to private schools had increased almost twice as much as funding to public schools in the decade since the landmark Gonski review recommended changes designed to fund Australian schools according to need.
Key to Gonski was the Schooling Resource Standard, a needs-based model to provide a baseline education to students by 2023, set at $13,060 for primary students and $16,413 for secondary students.
According to Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority data, 98% of private schools are funded above the SRS and more than 98% of public schools are funded below it.
The latest Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development education report found Australia’s investment in public schools was significantly below the OECD average, while government funding on private schools was twice the OECD average, behind only Turkey and Columbia.
Australian teachers also had higher than average workloads and class sizes compared with OECD nations.
The Lonergan survey also found 81% of parents were in favour of pay and conditions being improved to attract and retain public school teachers, while 71% agreed public school teachers were overworked.
The Australian Education Union deputy federal president, Meredith Peace, said it was “incredibly urgent” public schools were funded to at least 100% of the SRS to renew confidence in the sector.
She said many public school staff had left the profession due to unsustainable workloads.
Clare said a target for when public schools reached 100% of the SRS would be set imminently as negotiations with state and territory governments for the upcoming National School Reform Agreement began.
The agreement expires in December.
“We are committed to working with state and territory governments to get every school on a path to 100% of its fair funding level,” he said.
