After months of back-and-forth, the Commonwealth on Monday bowed to demands from a final holdout state and brokered a deal.
The Queensland agreement will provide an extra $2.8 billion in Commonwealth money for hundreds of thousands of public school children over the next 10 years, bringing the state into line with the rest of the nation.
The federal government cut the deal with Queensland to lift the Commonwealth's contribution from 20 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard - an estimate of how much public funding a school requires to meet students' needs - to 25 per cent by 2034.
Public schools held the most students with socially disadvantaged and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds, the Queensland Association of State School Principals said.
It believed the new deal would not only benefit those students groups but also the nation.
"We know that when we have functioning students and students who are successful it means that we have a healthy nation, both economically and educationally," acting president Debbie Hansen told AAP.
"This is something that actually will build our nation through the education of students and funding those gaps."
Queensland will remove a provision that allowed its government to claim four per cent of state school funding for indirect school costs and replace it with four per cent of recurrent funding on eligible expenses.
Federal funding will be tied to reforms that lift education standards across the nation, including more individualised support for students.
"This is intergenerational reform that will make an incredible difference," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Canberra.
"What we want to make sure is that every parent - when they make a decision of where their child goes to school - can have confidence that that child will receive the level of support that they deserve.
"Today will change lives because public education changes lives."
The Australian Education Union welcomed the announcement.
"The signing of these agreements is a tremendous win for students, teachers and the broader public education system," national president Correna Haythorpe said.Â
The federal opposition also welcomed news of the deal, but wants the prime minister to release all school funding and reform agreements it has reached with the states and territories.
Before Monday, every jurisdiction except Queensland had accepted a deal to fully fund public schools.
The federal government had struck deals with Western Australia and Tasmania in 2024 to boost its contribution to 22.5 per cent, leaving the states to increase their funding to 77.5 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard.
It also reached updated funding agreements with the ACT and the Northern Territory.
Other states successfully held out for a bigger slice of the pie, with NSW, Victoria and South Australia coming to a deal earlier in 2025 after the Commonwealth offered to lift its share to 25 per cent - foreshadowing the Queensland deal.
"This was an opportunity too good to miss," Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said.
"It was an opportunity to bring two levels of government together, but ultimately it's about kids."
Queensland's deal, like those made with other states, is tied to reforms such as catch-up tutoring and wellbeing initiatives.
29°C