The ACT Government has promised a “generational shift” away from Canberra’s traditional model of highly autonomous public schools towards one coordinated public education system, in response to the ACT Public School System Resourcing Review, released today.

The review argues that the system must move away from a model where individual schools are left to manage too many responsibilities on their own. It finds that many budget pressures and operational problems in schools were often “downstream symptoms of deeper structural issues in how the system is organised, supported, and resourced”.

At the moment, schools are under pressure for four main reasons. First, students are coming to school with more complex needs, so schools are spending more on classroom aides, specialist support, and targeted programs beyond ordinary teaching. Second, staffing pressures are making costs worse; schools are dealing with changing leave patterns, uneven staffing, and growing reliance on Learning Support Assistants. Third, old school buildings are costing more to maintain and upgrade; schools are expected to provide inclusive facilities, but leaving individual schools to manage assets has created inefficiencies and uneven standards. Fourth, some school costs are fixed, regardless of how many students are enrolled; small primary schools and schools with offsite preschools are under acute pressure because they still need minimum staffing and must meet compliance requirements, even when enrolments are low.

The review recommended a more co-ordinated approach: the Education Directorate will provide stronger support for staffing, finance, administration, infrastructure, and student wellbeing.

It also recommends that school funding better reflect student need, including supporting disabled students, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, students learning English, and younger children who need early intervention.

The government accepted 18 of the report’s 25 recommendations, and agreed to seven in principle. It will invest $9.3 million in the 2026-27 Budget towards the first stage, including $5.3 million for stronger system supports for schools, $2 million to review the school funding model, and $2 million to establish new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander governance arrangements.

Education minister Yvette Berry said: “The Expert Panel report confirms what many in our school communities have been telling us – that the challenges facing schools today require a system‑wide response.

“We’re better when we work together. Schools are stronger when they’re part of a system. This is the change we need.

“A stronger system will free up schools and teachers to do what they do best – teaching students. And a fairer system will ensure schools have what they need to deliver for all students, now and into the future.

“This is a deliberate and significant shift in how we deliver public education in the ACT.”

The Australian Education Union (AEU) ACT branch said the review validated years of warnings from teachers and school communities.

Branch president Angela Burroughs said: “This review confirms what educators, students and families already know: the system is under immense strain, inequity is rife, workforce planning has failed, and schools are being expected to do more with less…

“Educators are holding the system together through unpaid overtime, covering staff shortages, and supporting students with increasingly complex needs without adequate resourcing. We’re constantly being asked to do more with less.”

The AEU will hold a full-day strike on Thursday 11 June — the first in 15 years — unless its bargaining claims are met. Ms Burroughs said those claims were developed specifically to address the systemic issues identified in the review: chronic understaffing, poor workforce planning, inadequate relief staffing, escalating workload pressures, and the lack of transparency around school resourcing.

Ms Burroughs said members cannot wait years for answers to their current bargaining claims.

“The ACT Government cannot shelter behind the promise of long-term reform while refusing to engage with claims that address the immediate conditions in our schools.

“Our members have been patient. They have done the hard work of developing solutions. They need action — not another delay.”