Education department investigates Chinese school over financial mismanagement concerns
A taxpayer-funded Chinese language school, which is also a registered charity, is being investigated by the state government amid concerns of financial mismanagement.
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One of Victoria’s biggest taxpayer-funded Chinese language schools is being probed by the state government over concerns of financial mismanagement.
A Sunday Herald Sun investigation has uncovered the Xin Jin Shan (XJS) Chinese Language and Culture School, chaired by a man called Haoliang Sun, for years received student fees — and paid teachers — in cash.
The school was audited by the State Government Department of Education and Training (DET) on Monday and Tuesday of last week.
“We are aware of concerns relating to a small number of Chinese Language schools and we are taking action to investigate these matters,” a DET spokesperson told the Sunday Herald Sun.
It is understood the allegations revolve around potential financial mismanagement and the Government has confirmed its investigation is continuing.
In addition to receiving hundreds-of-thousands of dollars in state government funding every year, the Chinese language school, with more than 4000 students, is a registered charity with the Australian Government, and is exempt from paying income tax.
Speaking to the Sunday Herald Sun from the school’s primary site at Windsor Avenue, Mount Waverley, last week Mr Sun confirmed the state government audit.
He said Xin Jin Shan had in the past paid staff in cash but had stopped doing so “a couple of years ago”.
“There are some teachers … they are just housewife with no job, they say ‘we can help teach your students’, they say we can pay cash … now that is very strictly limited. We can’t pay cash anymore,” Mr Sun said.
Recently, students — of which there were more than 4000 — had also been given the option to pay fees electronically or by cheque, he said.
“The Government Education Department ask (sic) us, that we have to follow the policy … especially, this couple of years, we all follow the policy. At the moment I can tell you, not any cash payment for our school,” Mr Sun said. “I think it’s very helpful for us … the Government give us lots of help, direct us how to manage.”
Some staff had liked being paid cash in the past and many school families still preferred to pay fees in cash, he said.
The school currently has about 250 casual and seven full-time staff members, plus nearly 140 volunteers, records show.
According to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) the Victorian charity — which it describes as large and which it says offers Chinese language and cultural education — received more than $732,368 in government funding last year, nearly a quarter of its total income.
Financial reports lodged with the ACNC show income from student fees declared by the school rose by nearly $1 million — from $1,307,834 in 2016 to $2,211,835 last year — while the declared gross income of the school also increased by about $1 million from $1,965,949 to $2,989,515, over the same period.
The school’s latest financial audit report, uploaded on the ACNC public site, states the school rents its primary Windsor Avenue, Mount Waverley, site for $210,000 a year, from Suns Group Corporation.
Suns Group Corporation is Mr Sun’s own company.
Also linked to the same Windsor Avenue address is the Eastern and Western Chinese language schools, Xin Jin Shan Education Foundation, Xin Jin Shan Chinese Library and New Goldberg Orchestra — also registered charities — and the XJS Coaching School business.
According to the ACNC, the Xin Jin Shan Education Foundation, chaired by Mr Sun and with his wife Liya Lin as treasurer, was formed in 2006 and operates in all Australian states, as well as China, but is yet to report.
Ms Lin is also chair of the Eastern Language School.
Jie ‘Jack’ Zhang — the husband of a XJS Language and Culture School campus principal and father of a XJS Coaching School administrative assistant — revealed to the Sunday Herald Sun he and some other school families had invested in a $1 million olive farm at Mundoona, near Shepparton, at Mr Sun’s invitation.
The Sunday Herald Sun has obtained copies of documents relating to the purchase of the farm and documents naming the individuals and companies who have shares in it.
Mr Sun confirmed the purchase of the farm.
“We have some friends, school teachers, we buy the farm altogether, that’s totally separate,” he said.
XJS operates from its own Mount Waverley headquarters but also teaches students through its business, coaching arm out of a number of public, Catholic and private schools across Melbourne’s suburbs, including Mount Waverley, Kooyung, East Doncaster, Nazareth College and Firbank and Mentone Girls Grammar School, which it refers to as its campuses.
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The 2019 Xin Jin Shan Chinese Language and Culture School Admission Guide says the school, founded in 1992, is a community language school providing a wide range of Chinese-related courses, starting from early education to VCE.
“Xin Jin Shan is a VCE Chinese institution authorised by the Department of Education and Training Victoria and the Victorian Curriculum & Assessment Authority (VCAA). The school is authorised to provide VCE Chinese as First Language (FL), VCE Chinese as Second Language (SL) and Chinese as Second Language Advanced (SLA) courses,” the guide says.
A spokesman for the ACNC said secrecy provisions meant it could not comment on the individual circumstances of charities.
“The ACNC takes all concerns seriously and will investigate if there is evidence that a charity has failed to comply with its obligations,” he said.
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