The poll of a nationally representative sample of 2,230 people, conducted by YouGov,  found that 61% of people believe public schools are underfunded and 52% think private schools are overfunded.

Research from The Australia Institute has found that Australia is the most expensive place in the developed world to put a child through high school, and a K-12 private education now costs over $100,000 on average. Australia is one of the few countries on Earth where private schools not only receive significant public funding, but are allowed to charge parents unlimited fees.

Key findings:

• 38% of private school parents, with approximately 588,000 students, say they’d have sent their child to local public schools if they were better funded.
• Public schools now educate less than two thirds of the nation’s primary and secondary school students, or just 63%. Another 588,055 students would take that figure up to 77%, which has not been seen since the 1980s.
• Australians of all voting persuasions believe public schools are underfunded, including 51% of One Nation supporters, 66% of Labor supporters and 83% of Greens supporters.

“Successive state and federal governments have continued to underfund public schools, pushing parents towards expensive private alternatives in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis,” said Skye Predavec, Researcher at The Australia Institute.

“This polling shows a properly funded public school system could reverse decades of privatisation and save hundreds of thousands of parents from paying skyrocketing private school fees.

“Australians have noticed their local public schools being starved of funds while elite private institutions splash out on new swimming pools, and they’re fed up.

“Politicians have a choice: either they can listen to the voters by stepping up funding and help reverse decades of decline in public school enrolments, or they can continue underfunding public schools and push more Australians into paying unlimited fees in the private sector.”

_{YouGov conducted a national poll of 2,230 voters on behalf of The Australia Institute between 4 and 18 June 2026, using an online survey polling methodology. Full details are provided in the methodology statement. The poll is compliant with the Australian Polling Council’s requirements.}