Principal's News

I am writing with an update to my previous communication in the newsletter regarding the recent Victorian Government Budget and the plan to levy payroll tax on non-government schools. 

As you may have seen through media outlets in the past week, the State Government’s position has slightly altered and there are still many details yet to be confirmed.   

Nevertheless, the State Government is continuing with its plan to impose a new tax on your child’s education, and I provide the following information to assist in bringing some clarity to the situation as we currently understand it to apply to Shelford Girls’ Grammar. 

The State Government currently provides Shelford Girls’ Grammar with a modest amount of recurrent funding annually but intends to levy payroll tax at a rate we estimate will cost more than this, annually from July 2024. In effect then the State Government intends to defund your child’s education. 

• The State Government assumes that schools have the capacity to absorb this new tax burden without affecting programs, planning, staffing and fees. This is simply not the case. Shelford Girls is a not-for-profit organisation generating modest annual surpluses that are far less than the annual value of this payroll tax and that are needed to plan for and fund vital asset maintenance and replacement for our student equipment and facilities. We do not receive funding for our capital (buildings and facilities) unlike government schools. 
• Whilst every opportunity to reduce the impact of this new tax on fees will be explored, it is inevitable that such a large impost will have an impact on future fees. 
• It is clear that this is true for many independent schools, who are united in standing against this tax and who are all facing the same issue of funding this impost. 
• We reject the notion that is being perpetuated in the media that we, as an independent, high fee-paying school, are a “big business.” This is not true. We do not distribute profits to shareholders or owners. We reinvest surplus in to the school. There are very few schools in Victoria who have large cash assets, substantial land holdings and large cash surpluses each year. 
• The Premier has referred to the existing payroll tax exemption as a “sweetheart” deal. This is disingenuous. The existing exemption has been in place since 1971 when the State first introduced payroll tax and it recognised that education is a public good. The removal of this exemption is essentially a new tax on learning that is being imposed on non-government schools. This new tax does not apply to any other non-government school in any other state in Australia. 
• Whilst state schools do have pay roll tax commitments, they also receive all of their revenue from Government funding, whereas the vast majority of our revenue is from fees paid by parents. 

This is a matter of concern that will ultimately impact our school families. We are conscious that this change is being imposed on schools and families, at a time when rising interest rates, inflation and cost of living pressures, are already having an impact on families. We know that we have a parent community that is very diverse, with parents who work very hard and extended family members who pay or contribute to school fees. 

We are doing everything we can to communicate our concerns and to persuade the State Government to overturn this decision. I have contacted our local member, David Southwick, attended an online forum with Independent Schools Victoria and attended a briefing at the State Parliament with the Opposition this week.  

We wish to ensure that politicians from all parties, understand our concerns. The Bill in which this new tax on your child’s education is contained has already passed through the Lower House of Parliament and will be shortly considered in the Upper House. 

If you feel strongly about this issue, then I would encourage you to ensure your voice is heard and support the school by contacting your local parliamentary representatives, in both the Lower and Upper House to advise them of your concerns in writing.   

We will continue to keep you informed on this matter as more information is available. 

Katrina Brennan

Principal