Education savings plans and the quiet erosion of public schooling
Education savings schemes appear sensible and responsible. But their quiet rise reflects a deeper failure – a loss of confidence in Australia’s commitment to properly fund public education as a shared civic good.
Recent articles in Education
30 January 2026
Australia’s China student pipeline is facing a credibility problem
Australian universities remain popular with Chinese students, but online chat reveals growing scepticism about academic rigour, employability and value for money. These perceptions raise hard questions about the long-term sustainability of Australia’s education export model.
18 January 2026
Best of 2025 - The inflation myth propping up private school privilege
Private schools regularly blame inflation for rising fees, yet funding arrangements mean they are largely compensated for cost increases. Their fee-setting power widens the resource gap while feeding back into inflation itself.
17 January 2026
Best of 2025 - How did Australian universities go from free education to $50,000 arts degrees in 50 years?
Australians think students are being asked to pay far too much for their degrees. Just under half (47%) of Australians surveyed by YouGov in June 2025 believe a worker on an average income should be able to pay off the debt for a standard three-year degree within five years. When it comes to the cost of a degree, 58% believe a student should pay $5000 or less per year – less than a third of what arts students now pay.
12 January 2026
Best of 2025 - Lack of China capability can only do harm to society: Our current situation is a disgrace
In March 2023, the Australian Academy of the Humanities sounded the alarm on the decline in our understanding and knowledge of China through a report on “Australia’s China Knowledge Capability”.
19 December 2025
Australia’s school attendance crisis needs urgent national action
School attendance has been sliding for more than a decade, with more than a million Australian students now missing significant classroom time. Governments have set ambitious targets to reverse the trend, but meeting them will require a fundamental shift in approach.
17 December 2025
The market lie at the heart of public education policy
Treating public schools as competitors in an education marketplace shifts blame downward, obscures chronic underfunding and corrodes the very purpose of public education.
12 December 2025
After the ATAR: keeping perspective and finding your next step
As ATAR results are released, there are practical ways for students and families to keep perspective, protect wellbeing and explore future options.
6 December 2025
Australia’s school bureaucracy is growing faster than classrooms
Administrative staffing in Australia’s public education system has grown far faster than student enrolments or teacher numbers. Unless governments act, promised school funding risks being absorbed by bureaucracy rather than improving learning and wellbeing.
29 November 2025
You can’t regulate your way to quality early childhood education
Recent safety failures have triggered tighter regulation in early childhood education and care. But compliance alone cannot deliver quality. Real reform begins with professionalising the workforce.
20 November 2025
Overworked, overburdened, and burning out: Australian teachers' workloads among the worst in OECD
Australian teachers have unsustainable workloads, and government responses have done little to ease their burden.
20 November 2025
A search for purpose, vision and identity in Australian universities
The Australian university sector has become disconnected from the national imagination and needs a compelling new vision for the future.
17 November 2025
How did Australian universities go from free education to $50,000 arts degrees in 50 years?
Australians think students are being asked to pay far too much for their degrees. Just under half (47%) of Australians surveyed by YouGov in June 2025 believe a worker on an average income should be able to pay off the debt for a standard three-year degree within five years. When it comes to the cost of a degree, 58% believe a student should pay $5000 or less per year – less than a third of what arts students now pay.
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