Private school disability funding revealed as authorities crack down on spiralling costs – search the list
Federal investigators are moving to recoup nearly $19m in wrongly allocated disability funding from schools. See how much every private school gets under the $4.3bn scheme.
The federal government is on track to recoup more than $18m from private schools wrongly spending disability funds, new data shows.
The government is “running ahead of schedule” to recover $18.8m given to independent schools in disability payments for students through the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD).
Schools nominate the level of disability of their students based on the assessments of teachers. Students are put in one of four categories of impairment ranging from classroom help, which is not funded, to extensive impairment which attracts more than $42,000 per student.
As previous reporting by this masthead has shown, the scheme has been criticised by some stakeholders as lacking accountability and transparency, with one in four children now classified as disabled under the scheme,
Disability funding flowing to independent and Catholic schools around the nation has nearly doubled in the last four years and quadrupled in the past decade.
In Senate Estimates earlier this month, a department of education bureaucrat said there was “quite a comprehensive compliance regime” for NCCD funds but “recovery” of payments occurred due to the absence of evidence about how the money is spent or why it is claimed.
The bureaucrat said around 350 schools were audited per year.
“In instances of non-compliance, we work with the school to see how we can remedy that particular aspect,” they said.
The department official admitted parents are not notified if schools are asked to repay the funds.
“We always look at whether we can do a payment plan with the school because what’s important is that we don’t jeopardise student learning” they said.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Education said the department is “bolstering its non-government school assurance activities in a range of areas including NCCD”.
“The department is on track to deliver the measure’s projected savings of $18.8m across 2023-24 to 2026-27.”
New figures show the national budget for “students with a disability” for all private schools has soared from $674m in 2014 to $2.4b in 2024. In the past 12 months alone the private school total has risen from $2b to $2.4b – an increase of 20 per cent.
When payments to states are taken into account, the annual NCCD budget is $4.3b a year.
In 2024, $1.6b was given to states for public schools, with Victoria receiving $486m, NSW receiving $478m, South Australia $111m, Queensland $350m, Tasmania $26m, the ACT $19m and the Northern Territory $34m.
The money is given to schools, with principals given the freedom to decide which inclusion measures it will be spent on. Although schools are funded for individual students, the funds are often pooled. Parents do not have to give permission for their children to be classified as having a disability although most are consulted.
Schools with NCCD funding increases
Some schools have increased their NCCD funding by more than 500 per cent or more than one million dollars in the past year alone. In some cases this is because of an increase in the number of students categorised as having a disability and in others it reflects the opening of a new purpose-built campus for children with special needs or a new inclusion focus.
Victoria
Victorian schools with large increases in NCCD funding include Flinders Christian Community College, which went from $4.2m in 2023 to $5m in 2024. The school has a specialty autism wing called the Joshua Centre. Others include Caulfield Grammar ($3.4m to $4m), Haileybury ($2.6m to $2.9m), Woodleigh School ($1.85m to $2.9m) and Melton Christian Centre ($1.6m to $2.6m).
David Barker, principal of Woodleigh School, said the “year-on-year variation in funding reflects changes in the number and needs of students requiring support – not any programmatic or systemic shift. These fluctuations are entirely expected and appropriate within a system designed to respond to the evolving needs of individual students”.
“Woodleigh School was, in fact, audited in 2025 following the increase in our 2024 NCCD funding. This was a rigorous and thorough process, as it should be. There is significant oversight from the Federal Government in relation to this funding, which – while vital – does not come close to covering the full cost of the additional staffing, training, and programmatic support required to meet the needs of students with disability in our school.”
South Australia
In South Australia, Tyndale Christian School in Salisbury East rose from $3.8m in 2023 to $4.4m in 2024.
Large private schools also receive substantial funds under the program, including St John’s Grammar ($1.57m), Pembroke School ($1.4m), Scotch College ($1.38m) and Prince Alfred College ($1m). The state’s Catholic schools received a combined $109.5m.
Queensland
Schools with large increases in the past 12 months in Queensland include Emmanuel College, which went from $2m 2023 to $2.8m in 2024. Townsville Christian College increased from $75,998 to $527,160 – a jump of 593 per cent. The Village School on the Gold Coast went from $52,278 to $271,488 and Calvary Special School went from $138,544 to $589,481.
Other Queensland school with large increases in NCCD funding in the past year include Toowoomba Christian Parent Controlled Day School and Caloundra City School.
Dan Pearson, head of strategy and innovation, said Emmanuel College’s increase was due to the growth in Josiah College, a specialist school supporting students on the autism spectrum. “We’re incredibly proud of our students and all they have achieved, as well as the remarkable growth of the College in creating a nurturing, specialised learning environment where young people with additional needs can thrive,” he said.
New South Wales
In NSW, schools with large NCCD increases include Cape Byron Rudolf Steiner School, which went from $52,278 to $271,488 from 2023 to 2024 and Condell Park Christian School, which went from $13,152 to $56,668. Maitland Christian School also increased its NCCD funding from $2.1m to $2.8m between 2023 and 2024.
Leave a comment below or contact us with a story tip ateducation@news.com.au
More Coverage
Originally published as Private school disability funding revealed as authorities crack down on spiralling costs – search the list
Join the conversation
Central Qld’s top performing schools in NAPLAN 2025 revealed
Read more
NAPLAN: The full list of Tasmania’s top schools revealed
Read more