Scott Morrison-era ‘accounting tricks’ to cost public schools $13bn over next five years

National School Resourcing Board’s review finds state schools lost more than $2bn in 2022 due to a Coalition-era loophole

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Australia’s public schools will miss out on $13bn in the next five years if accounting tricks are maintained in upcoming funding agreements, a major report has found.

The National School Resourcing Board’s (NSRB) annual review, tabled in parliament last week, showed government schools lost more than $2bn in 2022 because of a Morrison-era loophole that allows states and territories to claim up to 4% of public school funding on non-school expenditures.

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