Vic private schools claiming lucrative disability payments

Some of Victoria’s wealthy private schools are claiming lucrative disability funds for more than half of their students, reaping millions in federal taxpayer funds.

Some Victorian private schools, including Methodist Ladies’ College, are claiming lucrative disability payments. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Some Victorian private schools are claiming lucrative disability funds for more than half of their students, reaping millions in federal taxpayer funds, the Herald Sun can reveal.

The schools are receiving more than $17,000 each for students with disabilities on the basis of assessments by teachers, not medical professionals.

This is five times the $3421 allocated to Victorian state school students with a disability, new federal figures show.

A raft of wealthy, high-fee private schools are also claiming the federal funds, with between one and two million dollars each going to Methodist Ladies’ College, Brighton Grammar, Ivanhoe Grammar, Haileybury, Geelong Grammar, Caulfield Grammar and Wesley College.

The revelations come amid a federal crackdown on private schools, with a Department of Education spokesman stating that it is “strengthening policy and financial assurance and compliance oversight in the non-government schools sector”.

This is to “ensure funding for non-government schools is appropriately spent on school education”.

The private schools, which are not specialist disability educators, include Heritage College Knox, which received funding for more than 50 per cent of its students – 49 out of 91 in total in 2023.

The Ferntree Gully school received a total of $715,000 – an average of $14,601 each for students with disabilities.

Bairnsdale Christian Community School also claimed the funding for 50 per cent of its students and received $17,253 in 2023 for 29 students in 2023, raising nearly half a million dollars.

A raft of wealthy schools including Ivanhoe Grammar are claiming the federal funds.

About 45 per cent of students from Mooroolbark Grammar receive disability funding – 18 out of 40 students. The school, which has links to the Church of Scientology, receives on average $15,847 per student.

Independent schools argue the funding reflects the true level of disability in their schools, with parents with children with additional needs increasingly choosing private education for their children.

The Catholic Education Commission argued in 2018 the higher funding given to private schools was due to their diligence with data collection.

But disability advocate Julie Phillips said private schools claiming disability funds for 40 per cent of their students was “surprising”.

“Because private schools are a choice, it would stand to reason that public schools should get the lion’s share of money from the Commonwealth to support kids with disabilities,” Ms Phillips said.

The new commonwealth data shows Victorian public schools received $355m for 103,000 students while Catholic schools received $350m for 35,000 students with a disability.

Independent schools received $230m for 24,000 students.

Australian Education Union President Correna Haythorpe has called for an overhaul of the current funding arrangements for students with a disability. Picture: James Ross

AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe said “the current funding arrangements for students with disability also need to be overhauled”.

“Under the current model there is no funding from the federal government for 30 per cent of the students with disabilities in public schools,” she said.

The federal government in December last year projected growth in private school funding of more than $2b over the next four years due to increased enrolments and an increase in the number of students attracting the disability loading.

The departmental spokesman said an annual assurance activity was undertaken to check information submitted by private schools, requiring evidentiary documentation about students, including those with a disability.

Schools are receiving more than $17,000 each for students with disabilities on the basis of assessments by teachers, not medical professionals. Picture: Getty

Senator Sarah Henderson, opposition education spokeswoman, said the funding for students with disability varies significantly, depending on the needs of each child and the severity of their disability.

Despite this, “the inadequate collection of data means we do not know where children with the greatest needs, who attract the most funding, attend school”.

“Greater transparency is required which is why Labor must disclose its review into school disability loadings that it has kept secret for more than a year,” she said.

Unlike mainstream schools, a number of private schools are funded for up to 100 per cent of their cohort because they cater only for children with special needs or disabilities.

This includes St Joseph’s School run by Edmund Rice Education Australia.

Director Chloe Hand said that without the federal funds, “most of the young people that engage at St. Joseph’s would not be enrolled at or attending school”.