Indigenous-Education-Review_DRAFT

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Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory Bruce Wilson Chapter Thirteen: Finance Resourcing of education has been a substantial theme in the consultations undertaken by the review. Across the entire scope of the review’s Terms of Reference, respondents have argued variously that resources are inadequate, poorly distributed, excessive in some areas, lacking in others, badly managed or ineffectively targeted. Discussion often focused on the timing of funding decisions, and the poor articulation between those decisions and program needs. A significant proportion of the discussions included the proposition that resources were not the problem and, often simultaneously, that additional resourcing was the key to better outcomes. The review recognises all of these perceptions are true to some extent, or in some areas. There are several factors limiting the effectiveness of resourcing: the demographics and geography of the Northern Territory; rapid and unexpected changes in Department goals and funding arrangements; lack of understanding at school level of how allocations and timing of project and program funds are determined and how the use of these funds can be managed for student benefit; the substantial complexity introduced by the significance of Australian Government funding in the Northern Territory education budget; fluctuating patterns of enrolment and attendance, meaning that staffing formulae are rarely established on a consistent basis; dramatically different requirements in schools for specific services (e.g. disability services); and discrepancies between funding inputs and learning outcomes. Learning Lessons At the time of Learning Lessons, in the 1998–99 financial year, the total budget of the Department of Education was $330.1 million. The Commonwealth Government contributed $55.9 million (about 17% of the total). Indigenous education was estimated to consume $137.3 million (or 41.6%) of the total, although the method for calculating this allocation would not stand rigorous scrutiny (Collins, 1999: 53). DRAFT Collins also noted the view expressed by both the Commonwealth and Northern Territory that their relationship was dysfunctional. The report argued that the onerous reporting arrangements for Commonwealth IESIP funding, focus on inputs and processes, lack of focus on outcomes, and low‐level targets (‘lack of stretch’) inhibited progress. It also suggested that Northern Territory had been ineffective in accessing Commonwealth funding (Ibid.: 54‐6). The key resource issue raised by Learning Lessons concerned the extraordinary differences in ‘levels of need, employment opportunities and service provision costs which apply across Indigenous Australia’ (Ibid: 62). The review was also concerned that the Department did not have sufficiently well‐developed systems for tracking relative costs at all levels, including costs related to individual students. The 2002 Secondary Education Review, discussing resourcing, also pointed to inequities in resource distribution affecting schools. It noted that ‘Equity of resourcing does not mean equal resourcing – it means differential resourcing according to local needs’ (Ramsey: xii). At the time, the Review calculated that the average cost per full‐time equivalent secondary student for the NT was $13,057 (Ramsey: xiii). 115
Review of Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory Bruce Wilson The Northern Territory education budget 17 Many of the issues raised in earlier reports remain relevant. Although the Department now has a much more professional and analytic approach to the management of resourcing, the issues that made resourcing less effective in previous years still apply. The cost of operating the Northern Territory education system in 2012‐13 was $864.9 million. Income, however, was only $814.5 million, leaving a net operating deficit of $50.5 million. The Australian Government budgeted contribution to income was $248 million making up over 30% of the total budget. Government primary education cost just under $340 million while secondary education cost just over $251 million. Government pre‐schooling cost almost $40 million ($11,717 per child) and childcare services almost $17 million. Employee expenses made up 52% of expenditure ($454 million). Northern Territory costs are about $17,857 per student in primary schools and about $22,724 per secondary student. $/student 25 000 20 000 15 000 10 000 5 000 0 Figure 20 – $ per student by jurisdiction and stage of schooling In school primary In school secondary Out of school DRAFT NSW Vic Qld WA SA Tas ACT NT Aust Note that Figure 20 shows accurate relativities between jurisdictions but varies slightly in quantum from the review’s calculation of per student costs listed above (Productivity Commission, 2013: 4.35). These costs are higher than those for other jurisdictions. We note, however, that there is inevitably a higher average cost associated with educating Indigenous children in the Northern Territory because of geography, their disproportionate location in remote communities, social factors impacting on these children, their language background and the range of forms of educational disadvantage they experience. In addition, the Territory is a relatively small system with little opportunity to achieve economies of scale: many functions (e.g. development of new curriculum or support programs) are the same as in large states but amortised across a much smaller enrolment, so the cost of such overheads drives per student costs higher. The Department calculates that the cost of Indigenous‐specific programs is almost $51 million, of which almost $42 million is Australian Government funded. These costs do not, however, include the 17 Data in this chapter, unless otherwise attributed, come from the 2013 Annual Report (DoE, 2013G) and from internal DoE briefings and working documents. 116
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