Per capita grants

The Minister for Education and Training makes an annual Non-government schools funding order under the School Education Act 1999, detailing recurrent state government grants.

The accompanying Guidelines for non-government school funding and Guidelines for non-government school funding − CARE schools provide additional detail on the terms, conditions, eligibility criteria and accountability requirements associated with these grants.

The Minister approves the state government per capita funding rates on an annual basis, following determination of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) for the upcoming year. Under the National School Reform Agreement funding arrangements, the state is required to contribute at least 20% of the SRS each year.

The annual per capita rates are published within the Non-Government schools funding order.

In order to be considered eligible for per capita funding, students must meet the enrolment, attendance and residency criteria detailed in the funding order and guidelines. Schools must ensure all students claimed for funding meet these criteria.

Each semester, all schools are required to complete the state government student census, to provide the Department with mandatory data. As part of the student census, non-government schools complete a Per Capita Funding Application (PCFA) form, which details the number of students eligible for per capita funding.

The PCFA form is required to be signed by a certification officer, a school employee nominated by the school’s governing body, attesting that the funding claim has been made appropriately.

For further information on the student census and to access the PCFA form, refer to Non-government student census.

Auditing of school funding claims is undertaken through the Grants Auditing Program (GAP).

As part of the GAP, schools audited are required to provide documentation validating that students claimed for state government funding meet eligibility criteria. 

Annually, schools must also acquit grants received, verifying that all state government funding provided during the year was spent in line with the requirements of the funding order and guidelines.

A list of all recurrent grants paid to non-government schools in 2023-24 is available. This also includes loans advanced under the state government's Low Interest Loan Scheme during the financial year.