State budget wrap up: New South Wales and Queensland

After the release of the Federal and Victorian budgets last month, the 2016 “17 New South Wales and Queensland state budgets have now been revealed. We take a look at investments into education and training in each state.

New South Wales

In New South Wales, education expenditure will see a boost of $959 million for 2016 “17, with a total investment of $13.7 billion. An extra $1 billion will be devoted to keep up with increasing enrolments, with new schools marked for Ryde, Crows Nest and North Kellyville, and more than 1100 more classrooms on the horizon.

Key measures:

• $2.6 billion over four years for infrastructure, including new schools, upgrades and improved facilities
• $50 million for the Supported Students, Successful Students initiative, which will provide more school counsellors, wellbeing resources and targeted support for Aboriginal and refugee students
• $38 million for the Quality Teaching, Successful Students initiative, which will provide mentoring and coaching opportunities for teachers
• $15 million for the Assisted School Travel Program
• $100 million for the Smart, Skilled and Hired program, which aims to target youth unemployment through new work pathways (including apprenticeships and traineeships)
• $97 million for new and improved TAFE facilities

Queensland

The Queensland Budget 2016 “17 delivered a record education and training budget of $12.9 billion. There is a big focus on the state's senior secondary reforms, which will see the Overall Position (OP) replaced by the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), as well as Advance Queensland initiatives and new infrastructure.

Key measures:

• $667 million for school infrastructure, including $475 million for capital works and $192 million for maintenance
• $72 million over four years to develop and implement new senior assessment and tertiary entrance arrangements
• $43 million to support universal access to kindergartens
• $25.3 million over five years to promote international education in Queensland, with the aim to create an additional 6800 jobs
• $7.1 million for the Global Schools initiative, which aims to expand studies in Asian languages, new technology teaching programs and global partnerships for schools
• $3.3 million to encourage students to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects

Useful links:

• New South Wales Budget 2016 “17 official state government Budget website
• Queensland Budget 2016 “17 official state government Budget website
• NSW Budget 2016: Winners and losers Sydney Morning Herald
• Queensland budget 2016 at a glance ABC