Number of private school students

The number of private school students is forecast to increase to 1.54 million in 2025, representing an increase of 2.2% over the previous year. This growth has partly been driven by the expected growth in the population aged between five and 18 over the current year. Additionally, the quality of education in public schools has suffered due to inadequate funding. As a consequence, Australian parents have favoured private schools over public ones as they are increasingly investing in their children's future. This trend is true despite the cost-of-living pressures on Australian households, as children's education has been prioritised over other expenses.

In general, there has been a spike in private school enrolments at the expense of government school enrolments. Private schools saw a surge in enrolments during the pandemic, as high levels of government stimulus and heavy restrictions on spending led to a spike in household savings. As a result, private schools accounted for a higher proportion of Australia's total school students over the three years through 2022. Overall, private school students have come to constitute a greater proportion of the nation's students over the past five years.

Over the past decade, enrolment at non-government schools has consistently grown, maintaining a relatively consistent share of overall students of around 35%. However, this figure increased to nearly 37% in 2024. The rise in the number of high-income earners, along with the perceived higher quality of private education over government schools, has supported growth in private school enrolments over the long term. Factors influencing a parent's decision to enrol their children in private education include religious beliefs, the availability and quality of sporting and music programs, access to better facilities and the desire to build networks that are perceived to benefit their children in the long term.

The Federal Government implemented the current funding model for primary and secondary education on the back of the Australian Education Act 2013, which took effect on 1 January 2014. The reforms introduced the Schooling Resource Standards (SRS), which were recommended by the Gonski Review. The SRS was primarily formulated on a base amount of funding that included loading for different types of disadvantages. This model took into consideration parents' incomes and other sources of private income. Schools are assigned additional funding to meet the needs of disadvantaged students like those with disabilities, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds or low English proficiencies. Under the Quality Schools Package, the Federal Government has committed to increasing funding for schools from $18.7 billion in 2018 to $33.0 billion in 2029.

According to teachers' unions, fewer than 2% of public schools receive the full SRS funding, while 98% of private schools are funded at or above this level. The disparity in the quality of education is continuing the trend of disproportionate growth in private school enrolments over government school enrolments. Overall, IBISWorld forecasts the number of private school students to rise at a compound annual rate of 2.3% over the five years through 2025.