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Introduction
Marilyn Harrington
For school education and vocational education and training
(VET), the Budget mostly reflects the new federal financial relations framework
previously set in place through the Intergovernmental Agreement on Federal
Financial Relations. Also, for school education, additional infrastructure
funding was provided by the Building the Education Revolution (BER) initiatives
appropriated under the Appropriation (Nation Building and Jobs) Act
(No 2) 2008–2009. It is higher education, the third tranche of the
Government’s promised ‘education revolution’, which is the education focus of
the 2009–10 Budget. The higher education budget measures signal major
structural reform for the sector, by encapsulating the Government’s response to
the Review of Australian Higher Education (the Bradley Review) and introducing
new indexation arrangements.
Total education expenses are estimated to increase in real
terms by 60.9 per cent in 2009–10. This increase is mostly accounted for by the
BER initiatives, which are short-term, the higher education budget measures and
the transfer of expenditure from the social security portfolio area to education
as a result of reforms of student income support payments.[1] The latter will mean that, in future, budget figures for total education outlay
over time will not be directly comparable. It is also worth noting that from
2009, as a result of the new federal financial relations framework, the payment
arrangements for the government components of child care, school and VET programs
are now managed by Treasury. Hence these expenses now appear in the Treasury
Portfolio Budget Statements rather than the Education, Employment and Workplace
Relations Portfolio Budget Statements.[2]
[1]. See the ‘Welfare
payments—student income support’ section of this Budget Review for information
on these reforms.
[2]. For further information about
these arrangements, see Australian Government, Portfolio budget statements
2009–10: budget related paper no. 1.5: Education, Employment and Workplace
Relations Portfolio, Commonwealth of Australia, 2009, pp. 16–17, viewed 20
May 2009, http://www.deewr.gov.au/Department/Publications/
Documents/DepartmentofEducationEmploymentandWorkplaceRelationsAgencyOverview.pdf
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