Education.
Funding follows
the learner.
Education funding has been reorganised around the choice of the learner. Federal education spending has fallen from $46 billion to $22 billion by 2050 because the new model retires several layers of administrative subsidy that did not reach classrooms. The savings are redirected into per-learner funding that follows the student through public schools, vocational training, and tertiary study.
The reform replaces a tangle of school-by-school grants, university block funding, and tertiary subsidies with a single per-learner allocation that the family or learner directs. Public schools, registered vocational providers, and accredited tertiary institutions each receive funding only when chosen.
The federal share falls because several layers of administrative duplication retire: compliance grants, equity uplift programs that did not change outcomes, and bureaucratic overhead between the Commonwealth and the states. The states retain operational responsibility for public schools and TAFE delivery, with funding flowing through the Australian Budget Growth Fund.