The EFS: what changes for your school
2026 is the first year every school data collection runs in the Education Funding System (EFS). This guide explains what the EFS is, what has moved and when, what stays in SchoolsHUB, and how to prepare the census and the financial collections.
What the EFS is
The Education Funding System (EFS) is the Australian Government's new platform for the data collections that determine school funding. It replaces SchoolsHUB as the place where non-government schools submit the census, the Financial Questionnaire, the Financial Accountability certification, the compliance certificate and student attendance.
You reach the EFS through EducationHUB at educationhub.gov.au. You sign in with your Digital ID (myID), and your access to a school is set through RAM authorisation. Once you are in, each collection opens in the EFS on the dates set for the year.
The terminology, explained
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| EFS | The Education Funding System, the Australian Government's new platform where schools submit data collections and where school funding payments are managed. |
| EducationHUB | The website at educationhub.gov.au that is the entry point to the EFS. You sign in to the EFS through EducationHUB. |
| SchoolsHUB | The previous platform for these collections. It remains available for viewing historical data and for the online funding estimator. |
| FQ | The Financial Questionnaire, the annual return of a school's full income and expenditure for the prior calendar year. Lodged by the school's business office, and no accountant is required to lodge it. |
| FA | The Financial Accountability certificate. Your accountant certifies in the EFS that Australian Government funding was spent, or committed to be spent, in accordance with the Act. |
| The census | The non-government schools census, the annual count of students and staff that informs funding, including the NCCD count. |
| NCCD | The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability, counted on census day and backed by the evidence your school keeps. |
| Digital ID and myID | myID is the Australian Government's Digital ID app. Every person using the EFS signs in with their own myID. |
| RAM | The Relationship Authorisation Manager, which links people to their organisation's ABN so they can act for the school in the EFS. |
| Approved authority | The body approved to receive Australian Government funding for a school or group of schools. For a multi-campus organisation this is usually the system office. |
The dates that matter
Every collection below runs in the EFS in 2026.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 11 Feb – 11 Mar | Address collection (complete) |
| Fri 24 Jul | Financial Questionnaire (FQ) and Financial Accountability (FA) close |
| Mon 3 Aug | Non-government schools census opens |
| Fri 7 Aug | Census day, including the NCCD count |
| Fri 14 Aug | Non-government schools census closes |
| Fri 21 Aug | Census special circumstance applications due, 11:59 pm AEST |
| 11 Aug – 11 Sep | Compliance certificate collection |
| 24 Aug – 25 Sep | Student attendance (STATS), semester 1 |
| 28 Sep – 30 Oct | Student attendance (STATS), term 3 |
Source: Data collections, EducationHUB, Australian Government Department of Education.
SchoolsHUB this year, and next year
SchoolsHUB is still there in 2026. It remains available for viewing historical data and for the online funding estimator, which the department continues to maintain: the estimator was updated in June 2026 with the Budget indexation estimates and the published 2026 Capacity to Contribute scores.
Organisation and school management functions moved to the EFS after a series of SchoolsHUB submission cut-off dates between November 2025 and February 2026, covering new approved authorities, school restructures, new schools and locations, corrections to 2025 census data, and accreditation updates.
From 2027, every collection, payment and organisation update runs in the EFS. The EFS rollout completes its final release in December 2026, when block grant authorities, non-government representative bodies and higher education providers are on board. The department has not announced a switch-off date for SchoolsHUB's historical view, so past submissions stay viewable there for now.
Sources: EFS delivery, Department of Education and SchoolsHUB news.
Preparing for the census in the EFS
The Schools Hub Report in Junipa keeps its place. It presents census-ready NCCD student data the way a reviewer reads it, with a clear disability category and adjustment level for every student, so the work you already do to keep the report current is the work that prepares the census.
The export stays the same until the EFS census data upload template is published. When the new template is available, the export will match it. Until then, continue to filter by reporting year, keep the census fields current, and export as you do today.
Preparing the FQ and the FA
The financial collections and the census sit in an order.
- Audited financial statements come first. They are the basis for both financial collections, so the audit sets the pace for everything that follows.
- The FA and the FQ come next. Your accountant certifies the Financial Accountability (FA) in the EFS. Your business office lodges the Financial Questionnaire (FQ), which needs no accountant. Both draw on the audited statements.
- The census follows. With the financial collections lodged, the non-government schools census, including NCCD, follows.
Who lodges what:
- The FA is certified by your accountant in the EFS.
- The FQ is lodged by your business office, with no accountant required.
Practical tips for the FQ:
- The FQ has a 20-minute inactivity timeout, so save constantly as you enter figures.
- System offices can use bulk upload to lodge for many schools at once.
- The preliminary My School finance report appears immediately after lodgement, so you can check how the figures read straight away.
Where Junipa fits
The Schools Hub Report stays exactly where it is, with census data ready for the new system. Filter by reporting year, read a clear disability category and adjustment level for every student, and export the census fields for submission, so the report you keep current through the year is the report that prepares the census.
The Funding Accountability workspace prepares the acquittals your accountant certifies in the EFS. It tracks the deadline for every certificate, assembles the document pack for your accountant, records funding by payment type in a ledger, and provides an auditor view, so the financial side of the year is organised alongside the census work you already do in Junipa.