TRANSCRIPT
Ashwaq Shallal and her family moved to Australia from Iraq nearly 20 years ago and has invested greatly in her children's education.
But she say she can't afford to send them to Catholic school anymore, with all four of them now going to public schools this year.
"We suffered this year and the last few years from the high prices of school supplies such as clothes, shoes and even laptops. I couldn’t register them in private schools. I transferred them to public schools because of the high cost of living and the exorbitant costs."
And those pressures aren't just for this family.
Over 13 years of schooling, the average cost of sending a child to government schools at major cities is up by 30 per cent to just over $123,000 dollars.
Independent schools see the average cost up by 10 per cent to more than $350,000 ... however the cost of Catholic Schools dropped by under 1 percent to just under $194.000 compared to last year.
Regional and remote areas saw lower costs.
The most expensive places for Government and Independent education is Sydney, while for Catholic schools it's Canberra.
The most affordable places for Government education is Brisbane at just over $101,000; Adelaide for Catholic schools at $185,000 and Perth for Independent schools at a cost of $300,109.
For government schools, costs like electronic devices, uniforms, sports equipment, and school camps made up around 90% of total education costs.
Sarah McAdie is executive general manager for corporate affairs for Futurity Investment GrouP
"Everyone knows that cost of living has been going up, and that's been reflective in these expenses. It was items like computers that have gone up, items like spending over a thousand dollars on outside tuition, camps have really gone up."
The independent financial institution is an issuer of tax-effective Education Bonds and say parents make personal sacrifices to afford education.
Government school representatives say the results aren't surprising and are calling for further funding and support for public education.
Dianne Giblin, the CEO of the Australian Council of State School Organisations says funding is important for Australia's future:
"The Government school system provides a quality education, has wonderful teachers and has a great community feel [[BUTT]] And it's an investment in our nation, it's extremely important for us to invest government funding into our government schools to make sure that every child is able to support our nation in the future. they are our future, we need to make sure they get the access and opportunities that other children get."
But for Ashwaq and her family ...their financial future is uncertain.
"I do not think that transferring them to public schools will end our suffering because the suffering continues with the high cost of living. Even the costs of private tutors are all very expensive."
The family are hoping the government can provide better support for school costs.
