Tuesday's ACT budget included the roll-out of new and vastly increased funding for all of Canberra's schools, but Catholic systemic schools will receive almost twice the amount over the life of the agreement than independent schools, in recognition of their financial need.

While Canberra's government schools receive the biggest slice of the Gonski pie - at $347 million by 2019, Catholic systemic schools will receive an additional $198 million compared with $100 million for independent schools.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed legislation to set up the framework for the new funding system based on the Gonski recommendations.

The director of education for the Catholic Education Commission, Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, Moira Najdecki, said, "For many years, ACT Catholic systemic schools have received the lowest levels of recurrent funding for Catholic schools of any state or territory in Australia." The ACT had taken an important "first step" in signing up to the reforms, which would benefit 17,000 Catholic students in the territory. NSW is the only other state or territory to have agreed to the federal package to date.

The latest MySchool funding breakdowns show Catholic schools receive the lowest levels of overall funding in the ACT at just $11,181 per student, compared with $13,562 for government students and $14,280 for independent students.

Mrs Najdecki said the Gonski reforms promised to lift some local Catholic schools out of operating at a level well below the school resourcing standard - the minimum level of funding set for every child across every Australian school, which will be topped up according to individual student need.

In other budget reactions, the ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations welcomed a small but "significant" $200,000 to try to save the humble school canteen from financial ruin. Council treasurer Hugh Boulter said it was "great news for parents and our public school children that the government is taking a solid common sense, business approach in providing support for healthy eating choices and helping to fight childhood obesity''. The funding would immediately help 65 school canteens implement online ordering. Mr Boulter said "perhaps with a bit of goodwill and hard work, we can reopen the 20 canteens that remain dormant out of a total of 85 canteens in the ACT".

As well as online ordering, the funding will allow the introduction of a new food purchasing model to enable food to be bought at a lower price. The council estimated both reforms would allow canteens to save up to 25 per cent in operating costs.

Australian Education Union ACT branch secretary Glenn Fowler said that were it not for the new funding flowing to schools as a result of the Gonski reforms, the ACT education budget would have been "light on" in terms of funding initiatives. Mr Fowler said the $3.5 million for maintenance and repairs of government schools was a slow start to a Labor election commitment to plough $70 million into upgrading ACT schools. He also expressed concern that 100 jobs or Education Directorate efficiencies worth $6.2 million had been earmarked.