Victoria’s top schools were propped up by $80m in JobKeeper funding

In a year that sent many businesses into crisis, some of Melbourne’s most prestigious schools turned a profit — one to the tune of almost $6.6 million.

Seventeen prestigious Victorian schools have shared $80 million in federal JobKeeper funds despite enjoying a combined asset pool of more than $1 billion.

In a year of crisis which saw many businesses go to the wall, some of Melbourne’s most exclusive schools received JobKeeper and turned a profit during the Covid pandemic.

Financial reports show some schools, which previously did not disclose the taxpayer-funded payments when asked by the Herald Sun, were recipients of generous multimillion-dollar handouts.

The list of recipients includes Wesley College, which received $18 million plus another $19 million in government grants, despite having $189 million in assets.

Other big winners include Penleigh and Essendon Grammar, which received $9 million, Geelong Grammar, which received $8.3 million and Bialik College, which got $7 million.

In the case of Bialik College, the JobKeeper funds received almost matched the school’s $6.6 million surplus for 2020.

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The full list is expected to balloon to one in four of the state’s private schools once all financial reports have been lodged.

Private schools had to post a one-third drop in income to qualify for JobKeeper.

Financial reports show Covid had a dramatic impact on many schools’ short-term cash flow, particularly those dependent on international students and boarders.

However, there was little impact on cash reserves, assets or capital funds and JobKeeper payments enabled 16 of the 17 schools to return to profitability by the end of 2020.

Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge defended the scheme, calling it a “highly successful program”.

“A decline in turnover was the test for eligibility, not an entity’s assets,” he said.

But economist Trevor Cobbold from the Save our Schools lobby group said it was “absolutely disgraceful and immoral that some of Victoria’s wealthiest private schools got millions from Job Keeper to run surpluses of millions”.

Geelong Grammar used Jobkeeper. Picture: Mark Wilson

Correna Haythorpe, Australian Education Union federal president, said she was “aware of reports that numerous non-government schools not only did not experience a decline, but in fact increased their turnover last year”.

Nicholas Evans, principal of Wesley College, said his school applied for the funds after a drop in revenue of more than 30 per cent.

“All JobKeeper funds were used to help pay salaries of in excess of 1000 staff through April to September, 2020,” he said.

Rebecca Cody, principal of Geelong Grammar, said it would have been negligent “not to take all appropriate steps to support our employees”.

A spokeswoman from Braemar College said the JobKeeper funds allowed the school to retain all of its staff, despite parent job losses and fee reductions.

A spokeswoman for Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School said JobKeeper was used to keep staff employed and absorb the financial impacts of parents being unable to pay school fees.

Michelle Green, chief executive of independent Schools Victoria, said such schools “rely on fees paid by parents, many of whom lost income as a result of COVID-19. This had a damaging human and financial impact on many schools”.

Stephen Higgs, chair of the Coalition of Regional independent Schools, said schools he was aware of “applied for Jobkeeper did so in good faith, when there were alarming projections about the effects of Covid on fee collections and enrolments”.

“More than 200 staff members would have lost their employment in 2020 if not for the JobKeeper program,” he said.

Victorian Catholic diocesan schools did not apply for JobKeeper and state schools were not eligible because their wages are paid for by state governments.

All schools listed in this story were contacted for comment.

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