New research from Swinburne University of Technology has found ‘free’ Victorian government schools are unaffordable for families battling homelessness.

Commissioned by Anchor Community Care, a Melbourne outer-east homelessness not-for-profit, the study provides an insight into the experience of families living in supported housing who are struggling to pay for their kids’ government school education.

For a child born in 2023, it will cost approximately $108,870 to attend a metropolitan government-funded school in Victoria for 13 years.

Consumer website Finder estimates it costs an estimated $2800 per year for a primary school student and $5310 for a public secondary student.

A survey by Finder found that 13 per cent of parents will go into debt to meet costs associated with a new academic year.

When these figures become difficult to manage, families are often confronted with a choice to either limit their children’s ability to participate fully in school life or go without in other ways.

In another survey by comparison site Compare the Market, many parents planned to cover back-to-school costs with credit cards, by now, pay later services or through personal loans.

“Our research found that parents often prioritised school costs, even when doing so meant compromising other basic needs such as food or household bills,” lead author Suzannah Willis says.

“Education is an important path out of poverty, and this research illustrates the importance families place on their children’s education, despite facing significant financial hardship.”

Willis says there is a crucial need for more consistent support to ensure that children are not disadvantaged at school.

This includes clearer expectations around what families are required to pay for and greater support for those experiencing financial hardship.

“Schools also need to recognise that homelessness exists within their communities and incorporate this awareness into school policies and practices,” she says.

“Children in Australia cannot currently access public education on equal terms. 

“Without changes to how school costs are managed and supported, families experiencing severe financial disadvantage will continue to struggle.”

While the research focused specifically on the experiences of families accessing specialist homelessness services in Victoria, it also suggests concerns for many more families who are marginally housed or at risk of losing their housing.

“This is an issue that extends well beyond families accessing homelessness services,” Willis says.

“Given the current cost of living crisis, this issue is likely to become of greater concern into the future.”

While government schooling in Australia is intended to be free, families in the study said ongoing costs for uniforms, learning materials, technology, and school activities were often difficult to afford alongside other necessities.

Willis says there is also large variation in how families experienced schools’ responses to their financial difficulties. 

While some families shared that some schools offered practical and flexible support, others placed greater responsibility on families to manage cost.

Anchor CEO Heidi Tucker says while the work her organisation is doing connecting families to funding streams to support with education costs is helping, capped funding is often not enough.

“It goes deeper than not just being able to afford pens, rulers, school uniforms and excursions,” Tucker says.

Homelessness makes a child feel profoundly isolated, ostracised and hopeless.

“For parents in this situation there is an enormous sense of shame, guilt and embarrassment.

“Homeless parents are just as aspirational and hopeful about their child having a bright future as any other parent, but it comes at a greater cost and sacrifice, skipping meals, and ignoring health and dental needs to ensure they can give their children opportunity.”

Victorians are expected to feel the burden even more in 2026, after last year's state government School Saving Bonus, that provided $400 to each child for uniforms, school activities and textbooks, was not renewed.