Greens demand cost of living action as back to school expenses hit parents

The Albanian government has been called on to combat the rising cost of living as the start of the school year approaches.

As new data from Finder reveals that the average annual cost of sending a child to primary school is $2,847, a move comes from the Greens; for a middle school student, the figure was almost double, $5,310.

In response, the Greens have launched a new campaign calling on the government to back the ‘$800 back-to-school payment’ scheme to help ease the price crunch for struggling parents.

Senator Penny Allman-Payne, the Greens’ spokesperson for Primary and Secondary Education, said: “Back to school costs are rising every year because Labor and the Liberals are short-changing state schools to the tune of billions of dollars and pushing the costs onto parents.”

“With one in three major corporations paying no tax and almost a million children living in poverty in Australia, something is seriously wrong.”

Under the plan, families in distress will be provided with direct living expenses assistance through an $800 payment.

The Greens say the impact of the cost of education in Australia is due to Labour’s inaction.

“If Labor wanted to stop families having to pay thousands in tuition fees,

Apply full school funding now and help struggling families with $800 in direct cash

“Back to school payments as proposed by the Greens plan,” said Senator Allman-Payne.

The $800 payment was a key Greens campaign promise in last year’s federal election but has failed to gain any support from Labor, which has since introduced cost-of-living measures of its own.

These include a “3-Day Guarantee” for child care, expansion of paid parental leave, energy bill reductions and support for the Pharmaceutical Assistance Program.

Figures from Finder show the impact on parents’ wallets as the school year approaches.

The new set of school supplies, including textbooks, stationery and uniforms, will set parents back $712 for elementary school children and $1,166 for middle school students.

Parents also face hidden costs when taking their children to school.

The average cost of transportation to and from school is $529 for elementary students and $631 for middle school students.

With school camps and electronic devices, costs increase even more; prices are often in the hundreds, if not thousands.

All of this puts parents in financial trouble, according to Finder.

“Finder data shows that 30 per cent of Australian parents with school-age children (equivalent to 819,000 households) cannot afford school costs, including stationery and uniforms.”

Data from December 2024 and based on 359 respondents shows that more than 1 in 10 (13 percent) admit they will have to borrow money to pay for back-to-school expenses.

Ms Allman-Payne said: “Every child deserves a free, first-class public education and the Greens are committed to delivering this.”