By Daniella White and Nigel Gladstone
The Sydney private schools facing the largest cuts in funding have been revealed after the federal government released its plan to gradually reduce payments to “overfunded” institutions by 2029.
The Athena School in Newtown, Northern Beaches Christian School, St Augustine’s College in Brookvale and MLC School in Burwood will each lose more than $2000 in federal funding per student by 2029.
They are among 30 NSW schools projected to lose funding, while a further 66 will have the percentage of their School Resourcing Standard (SRS) reduced, answers to Senate estimates questions on notice reveal.
The SRS uses a formula to decide how much government money each school requires, calculated as part of the Gonski reforms. Each private school is given a “capacity to contribute” score, based on the median family income, which reduces the base SRS for most non-government schools.
The federal government pays 80 per cent of each private school’s SRS benchmark, and NSW pays the rest. The proportions are reversed for state schools, for which NSW is the majority funder.
Independent schools that were paid less than their SRS entitlement were brought up to standard by 2023, but overfunded schools are having their funding gradually reduced until 2029.
Some of the state’s most expensive private schools – including Kambala, Cranbrook and The King’s School – will have their SRS reduced from between 82 and 85 per cent to 80 per cent by 2029, but their actual federal funding per student will increase in dollar terms.
Kambala, where fees and levies will exceed $50,000 next year, was funded at 84 per cent of the SRS this year and received $3,034,317 in federal funding. By 2029, it will be funded at 80 per cent of the SRS and receive $3,633,369 per year.
Meanwhile, Athena School in Newtown is set to lose the most funding per student, its payments per student reducing from $18,325 in 2024 to $15,645 in 2029.
MLC School in Burwood is now receiving 145 per cent of its SRS and is set to lose $2073 per student by the time its federal payments are down to 80 per cent in 2029.
Northern Beaches Christian School, which is currently receiving 156 per cent of its SRS, will have its funding cut $2422 by 2029.
The gradual transition to 80 per cent SRS has been criticised by The Greens but defended by the independent schools sector, which disputes the idea that any school is being “overfunded”.
Margery Evans, chief executive of the Association of Independent Schools of NSW, said every non-government school is receiving the amount of government funding it is meant to receive at this time.
“When the Australian government changed the funding model for non-government schools [in 2018], every Catholic and independent school’s funding amount was reset. This resulted in some schools attracting less funding,” she said.
Credit: Matt Golding
“This transition period allowed schools to adjust their operating models over time and avoided abrupt funding cuts that would have forced schools to shed staff and students or impose immediate, excessive fee increases on parents.
“It is only fair to families who make financial sacrifices to send their students to the schools of their choice that this change is introduced gradually.”
Economist and public education advocate Trevor Cobbold, a former Productivity Commission economist who now runs public education advocacy group Save Our Schools, said indexation would offset the SRS reduction for most transitioning schools.
“Only a small minority will actually have their funding reduced, and this is overdue because they have long been overfunded by millions by the taxpayer at the expense of better funding for disadvantaged public schools,” he said.
Students at NSW Catholic schools will receive $14,689 per student by 2029, up from $12,890 in 2024, while the average at NSW independent schools was $10,193 in 2024, forecast to increase to $11,440 in 2029.
The data shows parents at SCEGGS, Mosman Preparatory School and Redlands earn median incomes of more than $450,000. Eight schools, including Cranbrook and Shore School, have parents with median family incomes over $400,000.
About 150 non-government schools in the state, or roughly 20 per cent, have parents with a median taxable income above $200,000.
With Alex Crowe
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