Independent schools in Canberra and northern Sydney dominate list of those to have funding cut over next four years

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Independent schools in Canberra and northern Sydney dominate the “hit list” of 24 schools whose funding will be cut in the next four years, released by the education minister, Simon Birmingham.

On Tuesday the government launched an online estimator that shows how an extra $18.6bn in funding over 10 years (or $2bn over four) will be distributed, showing that almost half of all schools will experience growth of 5% a year or more in the first four years.

The new schools funding policy will be on the agenda at Liberal and Coalition partyroom meetings on Tuesday, which Tony Abbott has warned will include “vigorous” debate.

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But fears of a possible revolt have settled with senior Coalition figures including the treasurer, Scott Morrison, and the finance minister, Mathias Cormann, joining Malcolm Turnbull in locking in strongly behind the policy.

Of the 9,405 schools, 200 will receive annual funding growth of between 0% and 2.5% over four years and 4,646 will receive funding growth of between 2.5% and 5%.



A further 4,416 will receive annual funding growth of between 5% and 7.5%, with 92 schools getting 7.5% or above.

Schools facing the biggest cuts include Daramalan college in the seat of Fenner in the ACT, which loses $860,592 over four years, Loreto Kirribilli in North Sydney, which will lose $847,563, and St Pius X college in Bradfield in Sydney’s north, which loses $769,800.

Daramalan currently receives $7,998 in federal funding per student, falling to $7,389 in 2021 and $5,719 in 2027. Loreto Kirribilli falls from $6,171 per student currently to $5,385 in 2021 and $3,454 in 2027.

The remaining schools that will lose funding are:

In Sydney: Monte St Angelo, St Aloysius, Mount St Benedict college (Pennant Hills), Brigidine college (St Ives), Stella Maris college Manly, Oakhill college Castle Hill, Covenant Christian school, Waverley college, St Scholastica’s college, Northern Beaches Christian school, Masada college, Inner Sydney Montessori school, St Augustine’s college

In Canberra: Radford college, Burgmann Anglican school, Marist college, Brindabella Christian college, Orana Steiner school, St Edmund’s college

In Brisbane: Hillbrook Anglican school, Cannon Hill Anglican college

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The figures show that some “overfunded” schools receive thousands more in funding per student than schools with equivalent socioeconomic scores. Mount St Benedict college (Pennant Hills) receives almost $4,000 more than Newington college, a comparator school.

The figures show that, in addition to 24 independent schools, 27 Catholic schools in the ACT would be in line for funding cuts over four years on a strict application of the formula but could be spared by the policy’s $39.8m transition package.

On Monday evening Bill Shorten, Labor’s education spokeswoman, Tanya Plibersek, and Liberal senator Zed Seselja addressed a public meeting of Catholic schools at St Clare’s college in the ACT.

Seselja said he believed the Catholic sector’s complaints about the limits of the socio-economic status model were “correct” and that, if applied in a “pure way” in the ACT, would have “significant negative consequences”.

He committed “to continue to push to get the best possible deal for the ACT” and noted the importance of supporting parents’ choice of school.

In a statement Birmingham said the online estimator would “deliver the information parents, teachers and principals need from our needs-based funding plan to make long-term plans for the future of each child and each school”.

“We’re delivering long-term funding certainty for schools and communities and ensuring everybody is treated fairly and equitably,” he said. “Our plan factors in the background, family life, levels of disability and socioeconomic status of each student and school to ensure funding is truly needs-based and fair.”

He said the government had been clear that some would have funding frozen or reduced and the education department had already been in touch with them to help support them through changes.

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Birmingham said the policy “cannot be distorted” by favouring certain states and sectors over others, echoing his warning at the National Press Club that caving in to “bullying” from the Catholic sector would unwind the principle of needs-based funding.

Labor has argued the policy amounts to a $22bn cut over 10 years relative to Labor’s arrangements, which locked in funding increases of at least 3% a year for all schools.

At an earlier doorstop at St Thomas More’s primary, Shorten repeated claims by the Catholic education sector that funding cuts could result in fee increases of up to $5,000.

Shorten said that not all parents who sent their children to Catholic parish primary schools were rich and they should not be “punished” for their choice.

“Those parents pay their taxes to Canberra, they have the reasonable expectation that some of the taxes that they pay to Canberra should be reinvested in their children and their parents’ choice of education.”

Plibersek said the figures would reveal which schools were “disadvantaged compared to the arrangements that Labor committed to, the arrangements that we had legislated ... that we had signed agreements on with the states and territories”.

“Compared with that, $22bn of cuts across the country – you can’t do that without hurting schools,” she said. “Without less one-on-one attention, less help with the basics, literacy, maths, numeracy, science, coding, languages, all the extras that we want to provide for our kids.”