TOTAL 2017 OPERATIONS GRANT FUNDING = $1.35B TARGETING SCHOOLS’ OPERATIONAL GRANT INCREASE ($12m p.a.) TO GREATEST NEED This new approach to targeting operational funding is a step towards a more student-focused funding system consistent with the social investment approach the Government is taking to improve the delivery of social services. In the 2017 school year, schools’ operational grant funding will increase by $12.3 million ($43 million over four years for this initiative). This is equivalent to a 1% increase in operational grant funding (excluding teacher relief funding which is adjusted through collective employment contract negotiations). STUDENTS TOTAL 2017 OPERATIONS GRANT FUNDING = $1.35B BUDGET 16 PROVIDES A 1% INCREASE THAT WILL BE TARGETED TO STUDENTS FROM BENEFIT-DEPENDENT FAMILIES = $12.3M THERE ARE EXPECTED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 761,000 students in state and state-integrated schools IN 2017. UNDER A UNIVERAL INCREASE, schools would RECEIVE APPROXIMATELY = $16 PER STUDENT IN ADDITIONAL FUNDING. UNDER THE NEW APPROACH, APPROXIMATELY 130,000 STUDENTS MEET the targeting criteria, HAVing been in a benefit-dependent household for 75% of the first five years of their life or 75% of the last five years of their life. SCHOOLS WILL RECEIVE APPROXIMATELY = $92.84 PER QUALIFYING STUDENT IN ADDITIONAL FUNDING. Long-term benefit dependency was chosen due to its strong association with educational underachievement and the ability to match it with education data for 2017.