Newington College: Sydney private school accused of transferring $30 million in school fees to private foundation

An embattled Sydney school has been accused of transferring tens of millions of dollars in tuition fees and “possible” government grants away from students to a private foundation.

Embattled Sydney private school Newington College has been accused of transferring tens of millions of dollars in tuition fees and “possible” government grants away from students – directing the cash to a private “foundation”.

A draft statement of claim, raised in NSW parliament, alleges the Newington College Council in Sydney’s inner west, “transferred $30 million of school funds” between 2015 and 2020 to the Newington Foundation, before council members were then dropped as directors and control was handed over to a private company.

The inner west school was accused in the draft statement of claim of “crying poor” to families of students, increasing school tuition fees by 47 per cent over the ten years to 2024, while transferring several millions of dollars a year over to the external foundation.

Newington College, in Stanmore, Sydney, today. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

The allegations, raised to NSW parliament by Libertarian MLC John Ruddick to NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley, claim the funding was “potentially” sourced through state and federal education funding allocations.

The school rejected allegations government funding had been directed to the Newington Foundation, telling The Saturday Telegraph it had been “transparent” about donations.

Brown Wright Stein Lawyers’ draft statement of claim said there was “public interest” concerns around the allocation of funds to a foundation run by the external “Social Justice Foundation Limited”.

“Clearly this is not only a matter for the students of the college; but to the extent that public funds are obtained as a result of disclosures made to state and commonwealth government departments, then there is a wider public interest test that must be satisfied,” lawyers representing the Save Newington College group said.

“Questions also arise in the context of yearly representations … in terms of increases in school fees.”

The school is also accused of continuing to “raise donations” towards the Newington Foundation – repeatedly pleading for families to make donations to the foundation, while sharing the same auditors.

Parents are seen campaigning against Newington College's controversial decision to go co-ed at the prestigious secondary school. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

According to Newington College financial statements, submitted to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, the school brought in $68.5 million in revenue from tuition fees in 2023 alone, up from $63.7 million in 2022.

Meanwhile, $11 million was generated through state and federal government grants last year, an increase from $10.59 million recorded in the previous year.

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NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley confirmed to NSW parliament, and this masthead, that his office had received an application for the statement of claim against Newington College.

The Attorney-General is the guardian of “Charitable Trusts” in NSW, meaning an allegation against a not-for-profit organisation, including Newington College, would be forwarded to his office.

A Newington College spokeswoman told The Saturday Telegraph the school was “very public in our commitment to investing in our long-term scholarship fund and creating the opportunity

for 100 means-tested scholars to study here every year from 2040 onwards”.

“We have transparently reported the donations made by the College to the Newington Foundation to support that goal in all our financial reports since this commitment was made in 2016,” she said. “This was also communicated to our community and has garnered support through additional donations to this cause.

The College spokeswoman refuted allegations the school had transferred government allocated funds to the Foundation, telling this masthead it “allocates and spends all government funding in the operation of the school, consistent with our obligations”.

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“The Foundation receives no Government funding, rather it has sought gifts from our community since it was founded,” she said.

“Accusations being made are ill-informed and at times inaccurate.

“This amounts to unreasonable troublemaking and is an insult to our community which has been very supportive of the educational benefits of a diverse student population and of providing opportunities for students to study at Newington who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to.”