Asylum seeking children in Western Australia will continue to attend private schools after negotiations to bring the state in line with the rest of the country broke down.
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In 2013, Fairfax Media revealed that WA was the only state without a funding agreement with the federal government that allowed asylum seeking children to attend public schools.
The WA and federal governments had been in negotiations for an arrangement to cover the cost of asylum seeker students to attend public schools - like in every other state - since mid 2012.
But negotiations between the two are understood to have ceased at the tail end of 2014 with the federal government deciding to abandon plans for a funding agreement.
This means the federal government will continue to pay for WA primary and secondary students, who are on bridging visas, to attend private schools.
In October 2013 a spokeswoman for the WA government said the election of a new federal government had "delayed the establishment of an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)".
On Tuesday a Department of Premier and Cabinet spokeswoman told Fairfax Media "the Commonwealth Government, late last year, indicated it did not wish to pursue an MoU for the provision of state school services to asylum seeker children".
"The Commonwealth indicated this was based on an assessment of costs per student," she said.
"These costs included essential support such as intensive English language development and literacy and numeracy programs.
"WA spends more per student on public schools than other jurisdictions."
A spokesman for the assistant minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Senator Michaelia Cash, said "the department engaged in discussions with the government of Western Australia during which cost implications were considered - these discussions concluded in 2014".
"Existing arrangements with non-government schools in WA are currently providing adequate access to education for IMA children," he said.
Refugee Council of Australia's information and policy coordinator, Lucy Morgan, said that while most families were just glad their children were given the opportunity to receive an education, the council does believe asylum seeker children should have the opportunity to be "given as normal a life as possible".
She said most of those on bridging visas were likely to become refugees and settle permanently in Australia, at which time families would likely not be able to afford private schooling, meaning children may then have to change schools.
Ms Morgan said although the council's main concern was with people's well-being over financial arrangements, she "can't imagine it'd be less expensive to send a child to a private school over a public school".
