Terms of Reference for SES score methodology released

Announcing the Terms of Reference, Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the review of the socio-economic status (SES) score methodology by the National School Resourcing Board would look into the way SES scores are calculated and used to assess the capacity of families to contribute to the running costs of their non-government school.

The review will consider, provide findings and make recommendations relating to:

• The strengths and limitations of the current SES measure in determining the capacity of a school community to contribute to the recurrent costs of the school;
• Possible alternative methodologies or refinements for calculating the capacity of a school community to contribute or for calculating the SES, including the use of more direct measures;
• How frequently measures should be updated into the future; and
• Timeframe for possible implementation of its recommendations for the 2019 school year.

“Now that we’ve locked in a new school funding system and an additional $23.5 billion funding for students, we must ensure this funding is being distributed as fairly as possible and that it reflects the needs of school communities,” Minister Birmingham said.

The new National School Resourcing Board will report back on its findings by June next year.

“We’ve consulted with state and territory education ministers, the National Catholic Education Commission and the Independent Schools Council of Australia as well as parents from non-government schools to develop terms of reference that give the Board scope to investigate the concerns that have been raised about using SES scores to inform funding."

The National School Resourcing Board, comprised of education, finance and demography experts nominated by the Commonwealth, states and territories and the non-government sectors, was established to review and recommend improvements to the way school funding is distributed across Australia.

In undertaking this review, the Board’s considerations will include looking at the strengths and limitations of the current SES measure, possible alternative ways of calculating the capacity of a school community to contribute to school costs or for calculating SES, and how its recommendations could be implemented for the 2019 school year.