Revealed: The schools with the wealthiest parents in Victoria

The schools with the wealthiest parents in the state can be revealed, with 13 elite institutions attracting families with median incomes of more than $300,000. See where your school ranks.

Victoria’s poshest parents have been revealed, with 13 private schools attracting families with median family incomes of more than $300,000, the Herald Sun can reveal for the first time.

Families with students attending Mount Scopus Memorial College, a leading Jewish school in East St Kilda, earn $344,000 a year, making them the wealthiest in the state.

The school has some of Victoria’s highest fees — $42,335 for year 12 — and counts music promoter Michael Gudinski, former ombudsman Deborah Glass and former MP Josh Frydenberg as alumni.

The school’s parents earn more than three times the median Australian family income of $92,040 calculated by the ABS.

The school with the equal second wealthiest parents is Christ Church Grammar, an Anglican primary school in South Yarra, whose parents earn a median income of $336,000 and pay fees of up to $34,000 a year.

They are joined by parents who send their sons to Melbourne Grammar, an Anglican school which has fees for year 12 of $41,000. The school counts chef Tobie Puttock, football player Tom Hawkins and lawyer Julian Burnside as alumni.

The next poshest school parents, with median family incomes of $335,000, send their girls to Loreto Mandeville Hall, followed by families who choose Scotch College ($326,000), Melbourne Girls’ Grammar ($325,000) and Mount Scopus Gandel-Besen campus in Burwood ($313,000).

The poshest Catholic school is girls’ college Loreto Mandeville Hall in Toorak, which has wealthier parents than St Kevin’s College in Toorak whose parents earn a median family income of $305,000.

This is higher than Xavier College in Kew, whose parents earn $299,000.

The new federal figures are for median family incomes, which mean half of the annual family incomes of a school are lower, and the other half are higher.

Parents at Mount Scopus Memorial College are the wealthiest in the state. Picture: Supplied

Mount Scopus alumni include Josh Frydenberg: Picture: Sky News Australia.

The figures show the school with the highest fees in Australia of $49,000 for year 12 day boarders — Geelong Grammar — has families with a median taxable income of $240,000.

This is lower than its main rival Geelong College whose families earn $265,000.

The school with the highest percentage of VCE students with marks above 40 — Ballarat and Clarendon Grammar — has parents with median incomes of $201,000.

The Victorian school parent incomes are all significantly higher than those in New South Wales, with SCEGGS Darlinghurst having the richest parents earning a median family income of $495,000, followed by Mosman Church of England Prep School ($485,000) and SCEGGS Redlands ($450,000).

Parents at Christ Church Grammar earn a median income of $336,000. Picture: Ian Currie

Analysis by Save Our Schools, a state school funding lobby group, shows a number of the leading schools with the wealthiest parents are over funded by the federal government by more than $20m between 2022 and 2028.

The highest is Penleigh and Essendon Grammar, which is over funded by $24m over six years, and also receives commonwealth funding of $123m over the same period.

Other overfunded schools with wealthy parents include Wesley College ($10m over six years), Mentone Grammar ($11m) and Ivanhoe Grammar ($12m).

The new figures show that 35 independent schools with a median taxable family income of $200,000 or more will be over-funded by $180 million from 2022 to 2028. Of these, just 10 these schools will be over-funded by $103

Million.

The 35 schools will receive $1.7 billion in funding by the Commonwealth over the

period.

Melbourne Grammar’s fees run to $41,000 a year. Picture: Supplied

Save Our Schools national convener Trevor Cobbold said that “hundreds of millions of taxpayer funds are being squandered on highly privileged Victorian private schools serving the wealthiest families in the state while public schools serving the most disadvantaged families have to beg for funds”.

The parental income figures are used in part to calculate school funding by the Commonwealth government, but Mr Cobbold said the model was flawed because it does not take into account the incomes of many grandparents who pay school fees.

Under a funding model decided by the Morrison government, private schools that are overfunded are scheduled to receive less money by 2029.

A number of these schools will also have to pay state payroll tax which starts on July 1, with many raising fees as a result.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said every non-government school in Australia was either funded at the level David Gonski recommended, is above it, or is on track to be there by the end of the decade.

“But no public school is, apart from in the ACT,” Mr Clare said.

“At the election we made a commitment to work with the States and Territories to get every school on a path to 100 per cent of its fair funding level,” he added.