This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The independent school sector has turned its eye to the next federal election and a possible change of government by hiring a Labor-aligned lobbying firm to push their case in the ongoing school funding saga.

Independent Schools Victoria and the Association of Independent Schools of New South Wales have both hired lobbying outfit Hawker Britton to represent them in Canberra.

Co-founded by the political strategist and former Kevin Rudd adviser Bruce Hawker and the former Labor staffer David Britton, the firm is one of the largest lobbying outfits in Canberra.

Coalition defends lobbying rules and denies 'corporate takeover' of democracy Read more

Currently headed by Simon Banks – a former adviser to Rudd and Mark Latham – it lists the Commonwealth Bank, AMP and Amazon among its long list of high-profile clients.

Neither the Victorian or NSW independent schools associations responded to a request for an interview on Tuesday but an insider said the decision to hire a Labor-aligned firm showed the sector was being “realistic” amid the government’s instability and continued struggle in the polls.

It comes as the independent sector looks to increasingly flex its muscle as speculation grows that the Morrison government is close to striking a deal to end the vitriolic funding battle with the Catholic school sector.

On Tuesday Fairfax Media reported that independent school principals in Victoria were gearing up for their own campaign, concerned they had been forgotten in the funding debate.

Andrew Neal, the principal of Bacchus Marsh Grammar in Victoria, told the Guardian principals were frustrated at being kept out of the conversation as the government considers major changes to the way private school funding is assessed.

“I think the people who run ISV are no fools, they can read the numbers as well as anyone,” he said. “If a deal comes up I’m sure they will take it but [the government] is a bit like the dead man walking at the moment.”

While Neal is the only principal to speak publicly until now, a number of heads from schools in Victoria and NSW are working behind the scenes to convince the new education minister, Dan Tehan, not to make wholesale changes to the way private school funding is formulated.

Guardian Australia understands Tehan dined with a group of Victorian principals from the independent sector last week.

At the heart of the independents’ concerns is a potential change to the socioeconomic status formula that would use residential and tax income data to determine government funding.

Morrison says Catholic school funding 'unresolved' after report of $4.4bn deal Read more

There is concern the income-matching scheme would be unworkable in the short term because of the availability of the data, and independent principals are pushing for the scheme to be delayed until at least 2021.

Neal said the independents wanted the government to at least delay introducing such a scheme until 2021.

“Because of the confidentiality agreements surrounding the negotiations, no one has a really good handle on this [but] what’s emerging is that a large number of schools simply don’t have enough quality data to make this system work in the short term,” he said.

He said the data-matching system would impact on private school income, particularly among rural and regional boarding schools.

“The data-matching scheme has been put up as some inherently fair funding model but what it doesn’t take into account is things like gross versus net tax income, family trusts, fees through companies,” he said. “All we’re saying is this needs to be worked through far more carefully with a lot more transparent consultation than what has occurred so far.”

The SES formula determines how much money Catholic and independent schools receive from the government.

Under changes introduced by the former education minister Simon Birmingham, private schools would have their funding calculated based on the wealth of the surrounding area.

The Catholic sector has argued fiercely against the change, saying it would cost it millions of dollars in revenue and force schools to either raise fees or close.

While Birmingham was still the minister, the government agreed to a review of the formula. In June it handed down a recommendation that the government pursue the data-matching regime.

Earlier this month it was revealed the former Turnbull government had done a $4.4bn pre-spill deal with the Catholic sector contingent on its acceptance of a needs-based funding model based on individual parents’ capacity to pay fees.

The deal would reportedly mean Catholic schools that benefited from the recommendations of the SES review could move to the new funding model sooner, while those that ­suffered from it could keep their existing socioeconomic status from 2011 until 2027.