How private schools are at front of the line for subsidies
More elite private schools, including some of Australia’s wealthiest, have been discovered receiving generous taxpayer subsidies from the JobKeeper scheme, with millions of dollars in funding being used to save staff jobs.
Education
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More elite private schools have been discovered receiving generous taxpayer subsidies worth many millions of dollars.
Wesley College has received up to $13.5 million from the JobKeeper scheme, and The Knox School up to $2.5 million. This is in addition to annual federal subsidies of $11 million received by Wesley and $3.6 million by The Knox School.
The Herald Sun understands there are at least 35 other Victorian schools which have applied for the subsidy designed to help struggling businesses, including Geelong Grammar, which is one of Australia’s wealthiest schools.
Wesley College principal Nicholas Evans said his school had lost more than 30 per cent in revenue from factors such as offering financial hardship to more than 400 families and suspension of key residential programs.
In 2018, Wesley College had an income of $115 million, including $11 million in federal government grants and nearly $100 million from school fees.
“The harsh reality was that up to 200 staff members would have lost their employment in 2020 if not for the JobKeeper program,” Mr Evans said.
Allan Shaw, principal of The Knox School, said his school had also lost more than 30 per cent of its revenue.
“Many of our families have been impacted heavily financially and we have assisted many with their fee obligations. International students make up 10 per cent of our income and this has also impacted our revenue,” he said “JobKeeper has assisted us to look after families and retain staffing levels”.
The school, which charges up to $25,000 a year in fees, had an income of $16 million in 2018.
The issue has divided schools, with some refusing to apply for the taxpayer funds on ethical grounds.
One educational insider told the Herald Sun “anomalies around Jobkeeper has rendered some schools unintended beneficiaries and put them at an advantage to other schools”.
The Australian Taxation Office warned schools not to change the time they issued invoices or defer the payment of school fees in order to meet the criteria for eligibility.
A memo from Catholic Education Melbourne noted that schools must ensure their measurement of loss was applied in good faith to ensure “integrity measures are not triggered against a school”.
Michelle Green, chief executive of Independent Schools Victoria, said schools “only receive the JobKeeper subsidy to pass on to their staff if they meet detailed and strict eligibility and compliance requirements”.
An Australian Taxation Office spokesman said 26,185 education and training organisations were enrolled in the JobKeeper scheme.
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