Federal Education Department data shows that some private schools are receiving taxpayer funding almost three times greater than their entitlements.
The data – which was tabled as part of 2014 Senate Estimates – revealed that in 2014, more than 150 private schools across Australia received funding above their Schooling Resourcing Standard (SRS).
The SRS measures how much government funding each school is entitled to, including extra loadings to help address disadvantage.
The school that was shown to be the most overfunded in the country was Loreto Kirribilli, located in Sydney, which received 283% of its funding entitlement.
However, Peter Goss, school education program director at the Grattan Institute, told The Educator that equal attention should be paid to overfunded schools in the public and Catholic system.
“The data won’t show this, because government and Catholic schools are treated as a system, but the point holds,” he said.
“The principle is that schools should be funded on the basis of need, regardless where they are. Every dollar spent on a school that is over-funded compared to need is a dollar that can’t be spent on a school that needs it more.”
Goss added that the data shows that some independent schools are actually funded way below their needs-based entitlement.
“Parents in those schools have just as much right to be furious about the way the funding model works as a parent in an under-funded Catholic or government school,” he said.
“Yet this part of the story has not been well told.”
NSW: most over-funded private schools
Loreto Kirribilli
Government funding to School Resourcing Standard: 283%
Annual fees (senior years): $18,675
Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College
Government funding to School Resourcing Standard: 277%
Annual fees (senior years): $19,680
Saint Ignatius' College Riverview
Government funding to School Resourcing Standard: 263%
Annual fees (senior years): $25,680
Brigidine College, St Ives
Government funding to School Resourcing Standard: 197%
Annual fees $16,330
Northern Beaches Christian School, Terrey Hills
Government funding to school resourcing standard: 184%
Annual fees (senior years) $13,990
Victoria: most over-funded private schools
St Paul's College Kew, special school for students with disabilities
Government funding to School Resourcing Standard: 165%
Fees: NA
Melbourne Grammar School
Government funding to School Resourcing Standard: 144%
Annual fees (senior years): $30,360
Al Siraat College
Government funding to School Resourcing Standard: 135%
Annual fees (senior years): $2,732
Christ Church Grammar School, South Yarra
Government funding to School Resourcing Standard: 130%
Annual fees (senior years) $26,005
Insight Education Centre for the Blind and Vision Impaired
Government funding to School Resourcing Standard: 126%
Annual fees: NA