Principal

School Funding

School education is compulsory because it is a common good that benefits all children as well as our Australian society. This is why governments fund students to be in a school of their parents’ choosing.

Australia’s education sector is diverse and gives parents a choice of government schools, Catholic system schools and a wide range of independently owned and operated schools which include low fee to high fee schools, faith-based and secular schools, and schools for children with special needs.

Government funding follows the child to the school chosen by their parents and is based on their educational needs. It is very important that you are informed about the way this funding model affects your school choice and the impact on school fees that you are having to address.

Schooling Resource Standard

The level of funding for each school is based on a measure called the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS), which estimates how much funding a school needs to educate its students.* The SRS is made up of a base amount for each primary or secondary student, plus additional amounts called loadings for six types of disadvantage:

1. Disability
2. Low English proficiency
3. Parents’ work/education level
4. First Nations
5. Remote schools
6. Small schools

The 2024 base amounts are:

• $13,557 per primary student, and
• $17,036 per secondary student

* The SRS funding amounts are calculated based on the cost of educating a child at a school where at least 80% of students meet minimum NAPLAN standards for three years in a row.

St Patrick’s College, Strathfield is an independent Catholic school. Thus, our parents’ income does determine how much government funding we attract. The more parents earn, the less government funding is provided to us and other independent schools. Government funding for independent schools is shared between the Commonwealth (80%) and the relevant state or territory government (20%).

However, in government schools, the SRS is paid jointly by the relevant state or territory government (80%) and the Commonwealth (20%). Parents may contribute voluntary fees on top of the government’s funding, but no reduction is made to the SRS amount based on parents’ income or any funding raised. In fact, students in selective schools are now so advantaged they surpass those in many high-fee private schools. The My School website calculates an Index of Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) for each school in Australia. ICSEA is set at an average of 1,000 across Australia. The higher the ICSEA, the higher the level of educational advantage of students attending the school. 11 of the 20 most socio-economically advantaged schools in NSW are selective public schools (Northern Beaches Manly, James Ruse, Hornsby GHS, North Sydney BHS, North Sydney GHS, Merewether HS, Normanhurst BHS, Conservatorium HS, Sydney GHS, Smiths Hill HS, Baulkham Hills HS. 

So, for example if there are two secondary schools on the same street, each with 1,000 students – one government school and one independent school, whose Capacity To Contribute (CTC) score is 130. St Patrick’s College, Strathfield is 112 (and rising). 

The government school will attract the full SRS base amount of $17,036 per student ($17.04 million), plus all disadvantage loadings that apply. The independent school will have its base funding reduced by 80% and will therefore attract $3,407 per student ($3.41 million) plus all applicable disadvantage loadings. The independent school’s parents make up the difference in this funding gap by lifting its school fees.

I am sharing the AISNSW School Funding Made Simple video and make it available for your use.

The school funding debate is certainly beginning to ramp up which is most disappointing. ALL students in ALL schools should be funded fairly and parents’ choice to send their children to an independent school should not be used the way it is in political debate. 

Independent, non-government schools help State Governments fulfil their responsibility to educate every child at a reduced cost to taxpayers. In NSW, there are almost 1.25 million school students. Over 785,000 are in government schools, where taxpayers fund their entire SRS. Another 460,000 students are in non-government schools, where taxpayers fund only part of the SRS and parents pay the remaining cost. Most of these parents could not afford to pay the full cost of educating their child without government support, especially if they have more than one child. Government funding helps lower the cost of non-government schools so parents can pay some of the cost for those 460,000 students. Without government funding, a significant proportion of those students would move to ‘free’ government schools, most of which are already full and where taxpayers would have to pay the full cost. Our public schools could not absorb another 100,000 students, let alone over 400,000 more. Parents also pay for 90% of capital works in non-government schools, saving taxpayers even more.

What is the issue that needs to be addressed in government schools?

Some government schools are still not receiving 100% of their SRS following a Federal Government decision in 2018. This is partly because the Commonwealth is the major funder of non-government schools, and the states are the major funder of public schools. So, cuts in one sector didn’t automatically translate to the other. 

The current Labor Federal Government has committed to getting all public schools up to 100% in the next funding agreement with the states and territories. There is a real risk that this commitment will come at the expense of schools like SPC. Our position is that all government funding should be restored to 100% of their SRS but not at the expense of the non-government sector!

Please keep this information handy for use around election/by-election time so that our sentiments are made clear to those standing for public office. 

In Memoriam

We keep in our prayers Ms Kathleen Angelopoulos (Assistant Year 7 Coordinator) and her family, on the sudden loss of her maternal grandfather.  

Dr Vittoria Lavorato

Principal

SPC boys can do anything! 

**except divide by zero