Queensland’s top private school principals are being paid more than the Premier

Queensland’s top private school principals are being paid more than the state’s Premier, newly released annual reports have revealed, and the biggest earner of the lot is from a regional school.

QUEENSLAND’S top private school principals are being paid more than the state’s Premier, newly released annual reports have revealed.

The financial reports of eight Queensland private schools have been tabled in State Parliament, revealing the annual incomes of school leaders – half of which were more than $500,000 – with the schools pulling in tens of millions of dollars in school fees.

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Toowoomba Grammar School Headmaster Peter Hauser had a total remuneration package of $537,000 in 2018 including a base salary of $462,000, surpassing Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s last reported salary of $399,955 and just slightly behind Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s salary of approximately $538,000.

Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School principal Jacinda Euler

The highest-paid state school executive principals have a base salary of about $171,000 per year.

The boys’ school, which has been operating for more than 150 years, had more than 1180 students in 2018 including almost 300 boarders.

However, the annual report also noted that enrolments had been on a slight decline and subsequently the school was “vigorous in the promotion and marketing of its activities to the wider community”.

As a result income from school fees also slightly fell, from $22.6 million in 2017 to $22.3 million.

“(The decline was) a consequence of demographic changes and cyclical variations and is not a cause for significant concern, other than for the budgetary adjustments to be made,” the report said.

Anthony Micallef, the headmaster of Brisbane Grammar School — which recorded the highest percentage of OP1-5 results last year and was among the state’s best NAPLAN performers — was reported as having total remuneration worth $513,000 in 2018.

More than 1700 students were enrolled at the school last year including about 80 full-time boarders, resulting in more than $45 million in school fee income.

Neighbouring Brisbane Girls’ Grammar School principal Jacinda Euler was reported as receiving a remuneration package worth $509,326, a boost of more than $30,000 compared with 2017.

The high-performing school had more than 1360 students enrolled last year contributing more than $32 million in school fees, with every Year 12 student last year receiving a tertiary placement offer.

Longstanding Rockhampton Grammar School headmaster Phillip Moulds was revealed to have received a package worth $500,608 last year while Ipswich Grammar School Headmaster Richard Morrison’s was worth $493,000.

Townsville Grammar School’s Timothy Kelly, who was appointed at the beginning of 2018 after serving as deputy headmaster of Toowoomba Grammar School, received a total package worth $384,000 during his first year in his new role.

Meanwhile, Ipswich Girls’ Grammar School and Ipswich Junior Grammar School principal and CEO Peter Britton received a package worth $361,722 last year, while Rockhampton Girls Grammar School principal Christine Hills’ was worth $239,311.

* Figures used are total remuneration packages unless otherwise stated

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk

Brisbane Grammar School headmaster Anthony Micallef