Over 30,000 students approved for subsidised ‘Reef School’ in Queensland

A $3.5 million program introduced by the Queensland Government to support reef tourism operators through the pandemic by turning the Great Barrier Reef into Queensland’s biggest classroom has reached a major milestone, with more than 30,000 students approved for subsidised excursions.

Queensland primary and secondary students have travelled from far and wide to take part in 621 reef trips since the Great Barrier Reef Education Experience Program started in June 2021.

The Queensland Government introduced the program to help reef tourism operators diversify into education-based tourism when COVID-19 travel restrictions impacted traditional interstate and international markets.

Subsidies of up to $150 per student are provided directly to schools to offset travel costs for school trips which include a reef experience with a registered commercial reef tourism operator.

Key achievements since the Great Barrier Reef Education Experience Program commenced include:

• 621 reef education excursions approved for the subsidy

• 30,255 Queensland primary and secondary students approved for the subsidy

• 32 reef tourism operators delivering educational excursions 

• $2 525 306 in travel subsidies approved  

• $16.6 million in excursion spend reported by schools

• 55% of approved excursions involving an overnight stay

• 345 excursions travelling 499 kilometres or more

• 70% of school excursions undertaken by state schools

Schools from 42 local government areas approved for the subsidy  

In partnership with industry, the program has maximised the opportunity for Great Barrier Reef tourism operators to recover from the pandemic and to continue to be recognised as world leaders in responsible reef tourism and best-practice reef interpretation.

The program is complemented by ‘Be a Marine Biologist for a Day’ educational resources produced by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to assist teachers, reef tourism operators and reef guides to deliver high-quality experiential learning excursions for students.

It complements the Outback Queensland Education Experience Program which has been running since 2011 and provides subsidies for Queensland schools visiting the Outback.

Image. Turtle and coral Credit: TEQ