The Local Schools Community Fund provides funding to schools around Australia.

In 2019-20, up to $200,000 was available to schools in every Federal electorate – in last year’s grants process in Cowan, we allocated all of that money to deserving schools across our community.

I was really keen to make sure that the biggest say over how this funding was allocated went to members of our community: people whose children attend Cowan schools, who’ve gone to school quiz nights and assemblies, who bake the lamingtons and biscuits that get sold at school fêtes. You’re the ones who support our kids through their school careers, and the ones who pay the taxes that support those schools – who better to decide how this taxpayer money gets allocated?

In the middle of 2019, I put out a public call for nominations to the selection panel for the fund, and three generous Cowan residents – each having strong experience with our local schools – volunteered their time and energy to join me in assessing the applications we received. Every member of the panel scored each application according to its merits, and then met to finalise the outcome. I’m so grateful to the panel members for their diligence, and for the local knowledge and community experience they brought to the decision-making process.

Needless to say, there was a remarkable field of projects to choose from, and every school that applied was deserving of funding – but because the total amount our schools were seeking was over three times the amount made available by the Government, the selection panel had to make some very tough choices. In the end, we were able to support the twelve most competitive applications, and I congratulate those schools that are receiving funding!

The following schools received funding in the 2019-20 round:

I believe in investing in our children and their futures – when you give a child a good education, you give them keys to the whole world. Our schools are doing their best with what they have, and the projects that received a Local Schools Community Fund grant will enhance the learning experience for thousands of Cowan students even further. The fight isn’t over, though, and for as long as I’m Member for Cowan, I will speak up in Canberra for better education funding on behalf of every school in our community.