Canberra private schools hit by funding squeeze

Education department modelling shows ACT non-government schools will this year receive an average $8851 per student in Commonwealth funding compared with other states and territories receiving between $11,813 (NSW) and $21,619 (NT) for every enrolment.

And the proportion of federal funding will keep falling over the next five years, as the government implements changes aimed at addressing what are deemed the nation's most "overfunded" independent schools.

Daramalan College has linked its recent fee increase to the Commonwealth funding changes, telling parents the new model was hitting the Dickson co-educational independent Catholic school's bottom line.

Principal Rachel Davies wrote to parents that "government funding received by Daramalan has been significantly impacted by the changes to the funding arrangements for non-government schools under the Gonski 2.0 funding model" and the college was "facing financial pressure and increasing costs".

"The decrease in government funding comes at a time when financial pressures and uncertainty continue to exist in relation to staffing and operational costs," she wrote in the letter, seen by The Canberra Times.

"Over the past four years, the capacity to contribute (CTC) scores calculated for Daramalan indicate that our families have the capacity to make a more significant contribution to their child's education than has been the case historically. This has impacted the government funding the college receives."

Mrs Davies said the school's CTC score, which contributes to funding calculations and is based on parents' earnings, was prone to fluctuation from year to year, making it "very difficult for schools to estimate future funding and plan accordingly".

"Added to these operational factors are uncertainties in relation to how both current and future governments (both federal and state/territory) will allocate funding to non-government schools beyond the Gonski reforms."

The Education Department modelling shows ACT non-government schools have been deemed the most overfunded of any state or territory, with the department assessing them as receiving 86.3 per cent of their School Resourcing Standard (SRS) in 2023.

This means ACT non-government schools stand to lose the biggest proportion of Commonwealth funding by 2029 as funding to all non-government schools is gradually reduced to 80 per cent of SRS by 2029.

Data provided to Senate estimates shows Commonwealth funding per non-government student in the ACT rising from $8500 in 2023 to $9550 in 2029, a cut in real terms as it will not keep up with rising costs of delivering education.

Two of the territory's most exclusive private schools will receive less Commonwealth funding per student this year than the average ACT public school ($3807), with Radford College getting $3525 and Canberra Grammar receiving $3606 per enrolment.

Radford College is forecast to be the hardest hit by the funding changes, with a $469-per-student reduction to its Commonwealth funding between 2023 and 2029.

ACT Catholic schools, which enrol more students from lower-income families, will receive an average $10,706 per student this year, compared with $7110 for independent schools.

Canberra author and academic Tom Greenwell said it was "absolutely proper" that ACT non-government schools' funding be "brought into alignment with the formula", calling on the federal government to go further and regulate fees.

"Public subsidies have just fuelled a private schools arms race. To blame this year's fee increases on a modest adjustment in Commonwealth support beggars belief," Mr Greenwell said.

"The tragedy is that the ACT is the only jurisdiction in which public schools are fully funded - or will be this decade."

He said private school fees had "continued to increase far ahead of inflation ... despite massive increases in public funding over the last two decades."

"It's time for governments to stop providing very substantial public subsidies to private schools with no strings attached."

Association of Independent Schools ACT executive director Andrew Wrigley said principals did not like to increase fees but were "doing their best" to respond to rising costs and had to remain in surplus or risk losing their accreditation.

"Education costs have ballooned way beyond the CPI [used to index funding]," Mr Wrigley said.

"It's the role of government to reasonably provide or to fund to a reasonable level all education. Parents are paying their tax dollars for [government services] and one of those things is education.

"Parents are choosing, for a very wide range of reasons, that an independent school will be the best fit for their child, so they're choosing to pay fees. But that doesn't negate the community's expectation that the government fund independent or Catholic schools."

Greens education spokesperson Penny Allman-Payne said the private system was attracting "a growing share of school spending - including $51 million a day from the federal government - while 98 per cent of public schools receive less than the bare minimum" nationally.

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"Even in the ACT, the only jurisdiction where public schools receive 100 per cent of the SRS, there are teacher shortages, dilapidated facilities and rising out-of-pocket costs for parents and carers," Senator Allman-Payne said.

"Australia has one of the most unequal and segregated school systems in the OECD ... It's an inherently unfair and broken model."

In a written statement, federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the government was working towards a fairer funding model.

"Most non-government schools are funded above the full funding level David Gonski set, but most government schools are not," Mr Clare said.

"My focus is on working with states and territories to get all schools on the path to full and fair funding.

"We have secured deals with WA, NT, Tasmania and the ACT to increase funding for public schools and we will continue to work with the remaining jurisdictions to get the job done."