Waiting for Gonski: how Australia failed its schools

A new book written by two teachers looks at the impact of the Gonski Review 10 years on, exploring policy failures and potential solutions.

Waiting for Gonski: How Australia failed its schools will be released on 1 March 2022.

The Gonski Review seemed like a breakthrough. Commissioned by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and chaired by leading businessman David Gonski, the 2011 review proposed a model that provided targeted funding to disadvantaged students based on need — a solution that promised to close the gaps and improve overall achievement.

And yet, over a decade later, the problems have only worsened. Educational outcomes for Australian schoolchildren continue to decline, and there is a growing correlation between social disadvantage and educational under-achievement. So why hasn’t Gonski worked, and what needs to be done now?

The authors said, “We wrote this book because we believe this slowly unfolding policy disaster must not go unnoticed, and it must be understood. Unless we stop and take stock, we are doomed to find ourselves in exactly the same position in 10 years’ time.”

Tom Greenwell teaches history and politics in the ACT public education system. He writes about Australian education policy for Inside Story and The Canberra Times, and previously worked as a research officer with the Australian Education Union.

Chris Bonnor AM is a former teacher and secondary school principal. He is co-author, with Jane Caro, of The Stupid Country and What Makes a Good School? He has jointly authored papers on Australia’s schools in association with the Centre for Policy Development and the Gonski Institute for Education.

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