AUSTRALIA ranks third lowest in the developed world in terms of the public funding it gives to government schools and fourth highest in terms of its public expenditure on private schools.

The latest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's ''Education at a Glance'' report shows that Australia is ranked 26th out of 28 countries when it comes to the share of government education funding provided to public schools. It falls behind countries including the United States, Canada, Austria, New Zealand, Mexico, France, Germany and Britain.

When it comes to the level of public investment in private schools, Australia is ranked the fourth highest in the Western world behind Belgium, Chile and Korea. Britain, New Zealand, Canada, Italy and the US are ranked towards the bottom.

The report shows that 16.9 per cent of Australia's total public expenditure for education is spent on independent schools. It spends 71.9 per cent of public education funding on government schools. The US spends the most, 99.8 per cent, of its government funding on public schools compared to 0.2 per cent on private schools. Belgium spends 53.2 per cent on private schools and 44.3 per cent on public schools.

Simon Marginson, a professor of higher education at the University of Melbourne, said Australia had been increasing its contribution to private schools over the past 20 years. This was largely because the funding was from the Commonwealth, which was influenced by electoral pressures. State governments which funded public schools generated less income.