The Act Party will campaign to reduce school uniform costs by limiting state schools to three branded items. Photo / Richard Tindiller, RNZ

Act to campaign on reducing ‘absolutely ridiculous’ cost of school uniforms

Author: Lauren Crimp - RNZ,
Publish Date: Fri, 5 Jun 2026, 4:12pm

By Lauren Crimp of RNZ

The Act Party will campaign on bringing down the “absolutely ridiculous” cost of school uniforms.

It would limit all state schools to three compulsory branded items and ensure generic items such as shorts, pants, skirts, skorts and socks were available from retailers like The Warehouse and Kmart.

Act education spokeswoman Laura McClure predicted such a move would save families $250 per child each year.

Some state schools required those uniform items to be bought from a single supplier at a higher cost than widely available alternatives, she said.

“We fund state schools to deliver education, not to force parents to pay more than they need to for basic clothing.

“There is no educational reason a pair of navy socks should cost three times as much simply because it has to be bought from one approved supplier.”

She believed retailers would “come to the party” and ensure they had a good stock of options available, and some already provided the basics.

“The market will decide ... there’s always still the school uniform providers as well that will be there, but having that bit of competition means that, I do believe, the cost will drop.”

McClure ruled out scrapping uniforms altogether.

“Uniforms are important, I think they instil a sense of pride ... they are part of your school’s identity and culture,” she said.

“But I think paying $1000, or over $1000, for one set of school uniform is absolutely ridiculous.”

McClure said she had not spoken with coalition partners National and New Zealand First about whether they would be on board with the policy, but she believed they would support it.

“The cost of living is really hard, and it’s really high, and there are so many levers the government can pull.”

McClure said Act’s cost-of-living solution was more competition and more choice.

She said in Victoria, Australia, it was found some branded versions of everyday uniform items cost $56 more than generic alternatives, while similar reforms in Britain were tipped to save families tens of millions of pounds each year.

British schools will be limited to three branded uniform items from September.

- RNZ