Government funding for Australia's Catholic and independent schools grew at almost twice the rate of public schools in the decade to 2018, new analysis shows.

The preferential treatment continued even after public schools began to increase their share of overall enrolments at the expense of non-government schools in 2015.

Australian Education Union federal president Correna Haythorpe has called Australia's school funding model unfair. Credit:Amy Paton

Government funding per public school student grew 27.3 per cent between 2009 and 2017, analysis of the most up-to-date data published by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) shows.

This compares with 49.1 per cent growth per student in the Catholic school sector, and 52.3 per cent at independent schools.