The federal opposition education spokesman, Christopher Pyne, who distributed a leaked copy of the draft legislation to reporters on Thursday, called it ''all foam and no beer''. ''This is not an act, it is inaction,'' he said.

''Nothing in it is binding; the bill itself spells that out. It is a shameless PR stunt.''

Fairfax Media has revealed the draft legislation would not contain specific details about the level of funding and the indexation the education sector would receive, as well as how much the states and territories would be expected to pay. NSW and Victoria said they could not support the legislation in its current form.

A spokeswoman for the Education Minister, Peter Garrett, said: ''Details of the reforms and funding arrangements will be added to the bill as negotiations with education authorities progress. Once that takes place the legislation will be legally enforceable.''

Mr Pyne said with only 12 months before the new system had to be legislated and agreed to, the government was unable to offer certainty to the sector.

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