These schools might have saved the state $456 million: report

First-year apprentice Kiarra-Lee Rowe is at home in her secondary school campus, acting as a guide through classrooms, student kitchen areas and performance spaces.

The 19-year-old graduated from Y School Queensland Brisbane South in 2025 – one of more than 30 special assistance providers operating across the state’s south-east, designed for students disengaged from mainstream schooling.

“It’s been a rough road for the majority of my family throughout school,” she said.

“Being able to sit there and say, ‘no matter what, I did this, I completed something’, and [having] that year 12 certificate at the end of it, it kind of means that I’m good enough.

“I proved where I stand, and I deserve a place to stand there.”

Rowe was expelled from her previous school in year 10. She then started, left, and rejoined Y School Queensland Brisbane South.

“I was hesitant because … something didn’t sit right with me about going to vocational school, it seemed as though you were special,” she said.

“In the end, I decided to trust my gut and go with it, and from there I watched my life go up instead of down – my grades went from low Cs and barely passing, to Bs, possibly As here and there.”

Rowe also played competitive sports, travelling to Cairns to represent her region in Australian rules football in year 12.

The special assistance sector grew sevenfold in the past decade, recording about 11,000 enrolments in 2025 and 2000 year 12 graduates.

A McCrindle report released on Tuesday – commissioned by industry body Independent Schools Queensland (ISQ) – estimated these graduates would save the state and federal governments about $416 million over the course of their working lives.

“Student disengagement creates a measurable and compounding economic cost for the state,” the report read.

“Re-engaging one single at-risk student delivers a benefit of $226,100 to Queensland.”

The report tallied tax income, and costs linked to Jobseeker support, welfare and healthcare, and incarceration – of which 69 per cent of Australian prisoners had not completed education beyond year 10.

It determined estimated dollar-values using average costs or tax benefits and the proportion of people in these categories who had completed high school to a year 10 level, or through to year 12.

For example, it calculated about 19 per cent of people who left school after year 10 and were currently aged between 20 and 29 suffered from mental health conditions, compared to 12 per cent of high school graduates.

“While a complex set of factors undoubtedly influence the likelihood and severity of different health conditions, it remains clear that schooling is positively associated with long-term health,” the report said.

Australian Catholic University researcher Dr Matthew White, who specialises in accessibility and attendance issues at Australian schools, said it was often difficult to tally the actual cost of leaving school before year 12.

Although some families might opt for homeschooling – which is becoming increasingly popular in Queensland – Rowe said some households would not have the capacity to support a student at home.

Many special assistance schools are fee-free.

Across about three dozen South-east Queensland special assistance school campuses, the latest data from the national reporting authority – recording the financial year 2023-24 – averaged the total fees, charges, contributions from parents as about $460 for each full-time equivalent student.

Seven schools recorded $0 in the category.

Special assistance schools are funded by state and federal contributions, subject to the national schooling resource standard, but are exempt from conditions that strip back support for mainstream private schools.

In the 2023-24 financial year, South-east Queensland special assistance schools received almost $39,000 from the state and commonwealth for each student.

The state offers programs for students struggling with disengagement, most of which run as short-term intensive courses or additional services within state schools.

He said the extent of education required for a career in Australia had steadily risen, which meant students moving into vocational pathways still benefited from graduating from high school.

“You have to quite highly skilled and qualified, and it’s quite competitive, so it means that a lot of young people now probably more disengaged than they were in the past,” he said.

Rowe said larger numbers of young Australians also suffered with their mental health, meaning disengagement from schooling was at an all-time high.

He said additional supports were needed in areas where generations had struggled in mainstream education systems, but removing students from mainstream campuses risked increasing social isolation.

“Irrespective of how inclusive you make a system, you’re always going to have young people who aren’t going to fit that and who are going to need special assistance,” he said.

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