From the Principal 

Dear Parents and Guardians, 

As many would be aware, over the course of the past two years, I have kept you abreast of the changing nature of school funding.  Concerningly, in 2022 many regional independent schools are set to lose significant support from the Federal Government’s changes to non-government school funding. Along with 160 similar schools across the country, our school is negatively impacted by these changes.

This is becoming an increasingly high profile issue in the media and you might have seen some recent news stories on this, including on the ABC’s 7.30 program. To understand the issue in more detail, please take the time to read the attached letter, as well as Camille Smith’s article in the Weekly Times, or listen to my interview with Erika McGown on Country Today that explains the key problems we face. 

This is an important topic for our school community and the Board and I now believe that we must lobby the Federal Government to change this unfair policy. It is incredibly disappointing that the biggest reductions to school funding, resulting from this change, are to schools serving regional communities.

The Hon Dan Tehan, Minister for Trade and Tourism, has always fought hard to protect the interests of the Greater Hamilton community and he is a staunch supporter of our College.  I ask that you write to him using the contacts identified in the attached letter to ensure that College continues to provide choice of quality education at an affordable rate into our next one hundred and fifty years. 

I sincerely thank you for your support. 

Dr Andrew Hirst