Government spending on private schools increased faster in the past five years than for public schools.

And data in a new Productivity Commission report shows private schools on average get $1.2 million a year more funding from all sources than public schools.

The commission's 2014 report on government services also confirms the burden on public schools from educating the vast majority of disadvantaged students. In 2011/12 all governments in Australia spent $47.1 billion on school education.

A little more than 77 per cent of this was spent on public schools, which make up 71 per cent of all educational institutions.

Governments spent an average of $5.45 million per public school and $3.8 million per private school.