I also rise to take note of Minister Clare's ministerial statement on the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement progress report. This week marks one year of the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, which is delivering more funding and better support for public school students across Australia and in my home state of South Australia. Under the agreement, the Albanese Labor government is contributing an estimated $16.5 billion in additional funding for public schools across our country. There will be an additional $50 billion in the decade that follows.
When this legislation was first introduced to the parliament, just over a year ago, the Minister for Education included a requirement that the impact of this funding agreement be reported on annually. This is about accountability, but it's also about transparency and integrity. It's about the people of Australia knowing that, when our government makes a commitment, we provide the data to back it up. This is the first of these promised reports.
When Labor came to government in 2022, every non-government school was fully funded, or on track to be, but no public school outside of the ACT was. The Better and Fairer Schools Agreement fixes that inequity. This is the biggest investment in public schools by an Australian government ever. But the agreement is not a blank cheque. It's tied to evidence based reforms that are already seeing standards lift across education and are helping kids in my home state of South Australia to catch up, to keep up and to finish school.
The progress result shows the result of this investment that it's making a real difference in the lives of young Australians. Indeed, the report card shows that more kids are finishing high school. Twelve thousand more students finished high school in 2025 than in 2024, and attendance rates are going back up after years of decline. In 2024, attendance rates were at 92.7 per cent, but they'd fallen to 86.5 per cent in 2022. This is something which can't just be put down to the pandemic because we know that attendance rates dropped every year between 2014 and 2022. But now we are seeing them turn around, with attendance increasing last year to 88.8 per cent. Of course, this is just the start.
The progress report also shows similar data concerning the number of people starting teaching degrees. More people are studying to be teachers. Between 2017 and 2023, the number of people starting a teaching degree had dropped by 22 per cent, but in the last few years we've seen it bounce back up by 20 per cent. For too long, perceptions around teaching have seen it as a profession that is overworked and undervalued. I know this is how my mother and stepfather, both passionate teachers, have felt too.
Today we are working incredibly hard to recognise and bring the community along with us in that the profession of teaching and the value that it holds. This is a profession of highly skilled people doing transformative, nation-building work each day which changes the lives of young people. Our teachers deserve nothing but the utmost respect for the work they do. There is more work to do, of course, to make sure we're lifting the value, the status and our appreciation of that profession a profession which has been incredibly valuable to the teachers in my family, who are deeply, deeply passionate about the work that they do. Of course, our teachers are the people we entrust our children with, not just for their learning but for their wellbeing, their confidence and their ambition for the life that they want to have and the life that they want to lead. They are there to instil that love of learning which hopefully becomes a lifelong love of learning. To those teachers on the ground: I want to acknowledge that work that you do and thank you for everything that you do.
The progress report shows that NAPLAN results have indicated improvement, and we're seeing that progress reinforced at the classroom level. Year 1 phonics checks and early-years numeracy assessments are providing that information. These key markers are backed by evidence based teaching practices and more individualised support tailored to students' needs and ensuring every child is given the opportunity to thrive. There's more support in classrooms when children are struggling, including increased access to counsellors and mental health services to help keep them engaged in school.
If we could just put our phones on silent, that would be appreciated. Anti-bullying initiatives are playing whoever it was! a role too, not just improving wellbeing but helping to shape resilient, respectful young people ready for work and for life. Stronger connections between schools and communities are fostering more supportive and cohesive learning environments.
This work is all underpinned by measurable national targets to improve literacy and numeracy, to lift attendance, to increase year 12 completion rates and to build a strong, sustainable teaching workforce. This is about our government's ambition for a better and a fairer education system, but it's also about accountability. Of course, it's not just our parliament reporting annually; states and territories also have to publish progress updates as they implement these reforms.
I've spoken many times in this chamber of the transformative power of education, and it truly is the most powerful cause for good. Good education doesn't just change an individual's life; it strengthens their whole community and has the power to change the course of our country when we get it right.
Full and fair funding is the principal counterpart. In 2010, my friend and former prime minister Julia Gillard commissioned what would become known as the Gonski review. That review, chaired by David Gonski AC, recommended this new funding model for schools. But, under previous agreements, we know that the states' and territories' contribution and the Australian government contribution just did not add up to 100 per cent, and now the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement finally fixes that.
In my home state of South Australia, this represents a $1.25 billion investment in our public schools over the next 10 years. This is the biggest investment in South Australian public schools by any Australian government ever. South Australia was the first state to sign up to the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, just as we were the first jurisdiction to implement both literacy and numeracy checks. These checks are embedded within system-wide numeracy and literacy guarantees, ensuring children develop strong reading and mathematics from the earliest years of schooling. Of course, this reform was delivered by and with the Malinauskas Labor government.
In contrast, we know the Liberals' record on school education. In government, they were too focused on culture wars to adequately fund schools. Our government has turned this around. Our focus is entirely on students, their wellbeing and learning, and the incredible teachers who support this highly skilled professionals who support student learning and do nation-building work every single day. We are determined to continue to improve our education system, with a keen focus on fixing public funding for public schools. I went to a beautiful public school. It was a fantastic place to learn, and I want to ensure that every Australian child, no matter where they live, has the opportunity to access a world-class public education. I had that opportunity, and I'm incredibly grateful for it. We need to make sure that every child has the opportunity to have an incredible education, whether that's in a public school, a low fee Christian school, a Catholic school or an independent school.
Of course, our agenda in education isn't just about school education. I've spoken in this chamber many, many times about the important work and the reform agenda we have ahead when it comes to early childhood education as we move on that pathway towards universalism, lifting quality and improving access to early education. Of course, it's about vocational education too our huge investment in free TAFE places and our investment in TAFE infrastructure and it's about supporting those students who go on to higher education at university by reducing their student debt and offering paid prac placements for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students. Our agenda is large and expansive. It starts in the early years, and it ends with higher education that lifelong learning process. It's important work, and I'm proud of where our government is.
