for public school principals, applying for grants is now a big part of their job

Australians know public schools are underfunded. There are media reports of schools needing to fundraise to build essential infrastructure such as school halls and provide playground shade cloths and textbooks.

This comes alongside other reports of elite private schools building pools and theatres with multimillion-dollar budgets (helped by their tax exemptions and subsidies) and ongoing concerns about funding disparities between Australian school systems.

In our research, published in the Australian Educational Researcher, we speak to public school principals about a consequence of this lack of funding – a major part of their jobs is now applying for grants to generate revenue for their schools.

How are schools funded in Australia?

In Australia, public schools get about 80% of their funding from their state or territory government. The rest comes from the federal government.

Their “recurrent funding” is calculated through the schooling resource standard, which is an estimate of “how much public funding a school needs to meet its students’ educational needs”. This involves a base amount for every student and up to six needs-based loadings, relating to socio-educational disadvantage, location and English language proficiency.

A 2023 analysis indicated 98% of private schools are funded above the schooling resource standard and more than 98% of public schools are funded below it.

Current negotiations between the federal and state/territory governments ahead of a new school reform agreement next year have been billed as a chance to finally “fully fund” schools to 100% of the schooling resource standard. It is now more than a decade since this funding arrangement was introduced by the Gillard government in the so-called Gonski reforms.

Public schools fund capital projects (things such as building maintenance) in a separate process. While this varies across states and territories, in general it requires schools to demonstrate a need to their education department.

Read more: As more money is flagged for WA schools, what does 'fully funded' really mean?

A changing job for principals

In Australia, researchers have been noting a trend towards more autonomy or flexibility for government school principals about how they manage their budgets.

While this gives principals more discretion about how they spend money according to their school’s needs, researchers have noted it has also led to a greater expectation they will generate money for their schools.

This has become a particular issue if schools are not funded adequately by governments. If basic needs not being met, principals need to apply for competitive grants from government to make up shortfalls.

Our research

To better understand this situation, we interviewed 18 school principals of schools in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and the Northern Territory. This included primary and high schools in advantaged and disadvantaged (high and low socioeconomic) areas and in cities, regional and remote areas.

The interviews were done between July and November 2023.

The competitive funding they are applying for was to pay for basic projects and services, such as functioning toilets, roofing, windows and retaining walls. They also applied for disability support grants and wellbeing projects for their students.

‘I’ve already got enough paperwork’

A key theme from our interviews was principals feeling like they are being pulled away from their core duties to generate extra revenue.

Elizabeth*, a primary school principal from a disadvantaged area of Victoria told us, the work requirements around grants meant she was not able to spend as much time in classrooms and talking to students.

I didn’t come into this role being a grant applier. For me, it’s about the kids, the education, the passion of being here, it’s about being present. Not sitting in an office […] I’ve already got enough paperwork to then have to compete for grants.

As Susan, who leads an advantaged New South Wales high school told us, part of her work is simply about finding more money for her school.

And the frustrating thing is we all know schools need more support financially, that’s just a no-brainer, but it feels very frustrating that to run a school successfully you feel like part of your work is generating more funds.

‘Lots of time’

Principals reported applying for grants was time consuming. It is not an easy exercise – winning grant money is highly competitive and can often require a lot of additional work and different types of expertise.

As Tom, a high school principal from a disadvantaged area of Queensland told us:

[…] you’ve just got to give up lots of time. And because [applications are] all different, they all generally have different requirements […] They all have different layers of, I’m going to say, red tape in them. And usually the larger the amount you apply for, the more red tape.

Tom explained differing requirements could include “soil reports, insurance advice, flood mitigation expertise, project management and legal expertise”.

‘You have to apply’

But despite all these demands, principals said they felt they had little choice about seeking extra funds.

Mark, a primary principal in an advantaged area of Victoria, noted his school had a retaining wall that needed A$100,000 worth of work, but the education department only allocated $4,000 for it. He expressed frustration he had to go through competitive funding applications year after year – competing with other public schools in his state – for what many would consider a fundamental project.

So, you have to apply for these grants to try and get the big jobs done and top up the money. Because you don’t have enough money in your school budget.

This is why principals felt it was essential to be doing this extra paperwork. As Jason, a primary school principal in an advantaged area of Victoria told us, “we are still underfunded”.

there are things that are happening in schools that we are doing at the expense of other things. [So] being able to provide extra resources into the school, be it monetary or facilities, I do see that as part and parcel of my job, because at the end of the day it benefits the children and the teachers at the school.

What now?

Our study represents a small sample, considering there were approximately 6,700 public schools in Australia during our research. It would would be useful for further research to continue to examine the need for public schools to compete for funding for essential works.

But we argue our research is more evidence competitive grant writing is critically reshaping the principal’s role as a school leader – and not in positive ways.

*Names have been changed.