Please read the Program Guidelines before submitting an application.
Queensland primary and secondary schools and registered home school students can apply for the subsidy for eligible school excursions. Applications must be completed by 5pm AEST 31 December 2029, or earlier if all available funding has been allocated.
The Program is available upon application to all Queensland primary and secondary schools, including schools of distance education and registered homeschools, where students are participating in an eligible curriculum-related experience as part of their excursion. Schools must apply on behalf of their enrolled students participating in the excursion. Subsidy payments will not be provided to an individual student or their family, except by arrangement with registered homeschools and can only be passed on as savings on the cost of the excursion.
To claim the subsidy of up to $150 per student, a school’s excursion itinerary must include at least one curriculum related reef experience, facilitated through a commercial reef tourism operator within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area boundaries.
The subsidy is calculated on a per student basis. Accompanying teachers and adults are not included when calculating the subsidy. A student is only eligible for the subsidy once and the school is responsible for ensuring that each student for whom the funding is claimed has not, to the best of the school’s knowledge, received the subsidy previously.
Fifty per cent of the subsidy will be paid upon approval of the school’s application and the remaining 50 per cent will be paid upon receipt of the completed survey after the excursion.
Eligible reef education activities will need to align with the Australian and Queensland curriculum and may include:
Queensland schools will need to submit their application at least four weeks prior to the departure date of their school excursion.
The Application will be assessed (please allow 10 business days) and you will be advised of the outcome. If you are eligible to receive the subsidy, next steps will be advised.
All applications will be processed in order of receipt and schools are encouraged to submit applications as early as possible.
The subsidy is not intended to cover all costs of the planned activities or itinerary.
Funds are allocated to schools/registered home schools on a per student basis, at rates corresponding to the round-trip distance travelled from the school as per the subsidy table shown here:
Distance not applicable. Subsidy value: $50
Total distance travelled (round trip)
Level 1, up to 499km: $55
Level 2, 500km – 999km: $85
Level 3, 1000km – 1499km: $115
Level 4, 1500km plus: $150
Under the GBR Education Experience Program guidelines, schools must acknowledge the subsidy provided by the Queensland Government in the school newsletter and in communication issued to parents/guardians in relation to the excursion.
Details including the funding received by the school for each student participating in the excursion and the reef experience undertaken must be reported in the newsletter / communication to parents/guardians.
Example acknowledgement statement:
This <activity/excursion> is supported with funding from the Queensland Government’s Great Barrier Reef Education Experience Program. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion, funding of $xxx per student is being paid directly to the school.
For social media posts related to the excursion, schools have the option to include the hashtag #supportqldtourism