@Scott th Ratbag; in Victoria any fees sought from parents from public schools are '
strictly voluntary'. It's my experience that parents who are able to do so pay those fees and the response rate varies enormously across the state - from 15% to 95%!
Again in Victoria, School Councils have to approve those '
voluntary fees' as part of School Annual Budgets, the majority of people on Councils have to be parents!
Where students directly 'consume' materials, for example by creating a table what used to be called Woodwork they can be required to pay for the cost of the materials. Similarly with camps and excursions, albeit schools get to negotiate very competitive rates with bus lines / tour companies.
Schools in remote locations often subsidise student travel costs associated with camps, excursions and even due to the requirements of some senior subjects.
Is there a plan to force kids into private schools? I doubt it, but if there is it's as clever as Baldrick's Cunning Plan:
yeah.....
