Private schools in WA have outspent public schools on capital works by $3.2 billion over the past decade, including $515 million in 2023 alone, exposing a widening infrastructure divide driven by the absence of ongoing Commonwealth capital funding for public schools since 2017.

The building divide in Australian schools: How capital funding fuels educational inequity report shows that students in the most advantaged private schools in WA receive more than three times the per-student capital investment of students in the most disadvantaged public schools — a gap of $2,112 per student.

This inequity is fuelled by the lack of federal funding for capital investment in public schools.

Nationally, the report reveals private schools have outspent public schools on capital works by $38 billion over the past decade, including $5.4 billion in 2023 alone. Capital investment averaged $2,746 per student per year in private schools, compared with $1,237 per student in public schools.

Between 2017 and 2025, the Commonwealth’s Non-Government School Capital Grants Program has delivered more than $1.6 billion to private schools, with a further almost $3 billion scheduled between 2025 and 2034. By contrast, public schools receive no permanent federal capital stream.

AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe said the divide is being driven by Commonwealth policy settings that has funded capital works in private schools, while leaving public schools without an ongoing capital stream since 2017.

“That is not an accident, it is the result of policy choices that keep directing public funding towards already wealthy private schools,” she said.

SSTUWA President Matt Jarman said the funding imbalance is having real consequences in WA classrooms.

“Western Australian public schools are educating the overwhelming majority of children, yet they are doing so without the benefit of a guaranteed Commonwealth capital funding stream,” he said.

“When private schools are receiving more than three times the per-student capital investment of some public schools, it entrenches inequality across our communities.

“Western Australia needs long-term, predictable capital funding from the Commonwealth so public schools can plan, build and deliver the modern learning environments our students deserve.”

The AEU is calling on the Commonwealth to provide an immediate injection of capital funding to public schools, establish a permanent capital works fund, and negotiate a joint partnership with state and territory governments to ensure all public schools have access to adequate and safe 21st century learning environments.