First Nations education funding must back community-controlled leadership

The Federal Government’s announcement of $113 million for First Nations education should prompt a serious national conversation about who is being trusted and funded to lead outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners.  

The 2026 to 2027 Budget includes $55.5 million to extend funding to the Clontarf Foundation, $30 million to the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, $23.8 million for Indigenous boarding, and $1.5 million for the First Nations Education MultiLit program (SOURCE).  

NATSIEC welcomes continued investment in First Nations education. Every investment that supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners to participate, belong, succeed and stay connected to education matters.  

But this Budget also reflects an ongoing pattern in policy: governments continue to invest in programs delivered to First Nations peoples, rather than investing in the authority, infrastructure and leadership of First Nations communities themselves.  

Across the country, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are already leading work that strengthens learner engagement, identity, language, belonging and educational success. Through NATSIEC’s development of the First Nations Education Policy, we have spent recent months travelling across communities and listening to educators, learners, families, Elders, organisations and community leaders about what is needed to improve outcomes for First Nations young people. 

What communities told us was clear.  

First Nations learners thrive when education is connected to culture, identity, language, community leadership and culturally safe learning environments. We heard strong examples of First Nations-led initiatives making a real difference, including community-led mentoring, on-Country learning, language revitalisation, youth engagement, local school partnerships, family-led education work and community-designed support for learners who are being pushed out or left behind by mainstream systems. 

These initiatives work because they are designed by community, for community. They are accountable to local families, local priorities and local knowledge. They do not treat culture as an add-on to education. They understand that culture, identity and belonging are central to learning. 

Communities have also been clear that the future of First Nations education cannot rely on short-term programs, narrow pilots or externally designed solutions. Real reform requires sustained investment in First Nations-led governance, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations, and the local education infrastructure communities need to make decisions for their own children and young people.  

Through the First Nations Education Policy consultations, we repeatedly heard that self-determination in education is not optional. It is foundational.   

If governments want better outcomes, they must invest differently. That means shifting from funding First Nations participation in externally designed programs to funding First Nations authority, leadership and decision-making. It means backing community-controlled organisations to design, deliver and govern education solutions at scale. 

NATSIEC calls on the Federal Government to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled education leadership to ensure future investment is directed toward the strengths, expertise and priorities that already exist in our communities. 

ENDS 

Media contact: 
Bronte Charles 
Communications and Engagement Officer 
NATSIEC
0448 385 984
bronte.charles@natsiec.edu.au