Australia announced a Aus$14.5bn funding boost for schools on Sunday in one of the country's biggest education reforms in decades.

Under the proposal, the extra cash will be made available over six years from 2014 with the government setting a goal for Australian schools to be among the world's top five in reading, numeracy and science by 2025.

"A world class school system is a key part of a strong economy for the future," said Prime Minister Julia Gillard, a former education minister.

"It will help every Australian child get the best education possible and secure a high-wage, high skilled job."

This boost in funding demands that each school hold a plan for improvements across the board. For expat families looking into which state they move to, the funding and school budgets should be taken into consideration.  Education in Australia is internationally recognised as being of a very high standard. Schooling is compulsory from ages five to fifteen and is the responsibility of state governments. Although the states each have their own education system, they all follow the same model and receive extra funding from federal government.

There is also a variety of private schools, either independent or with religious affiliation. Most of them are listed in the Private School Directory.  There are several international schools among them, most of which use English as their language of instruction. In cities like Sydney and Melbourne, you can also find some bilingual schools, e.g. for French, German, or Japanese. Most expat families should have no problems finding a school offering a quality well funded education.