Australia’s richest and poorest schools for 2024 revealed
Australia’s richest schools have been revealed, with some raking in up to $700 million in fees, funding and donations over the past five years.
Australia’s richest schools of 2024 have been revealed, with the top five in several states exposing a major wealth divide between public and private schools.
In exclusive analysis of financial data from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority’s MySchool database, we ranked schools based on wealth in each state, combining gross income – including fees, government funding, and other sources such as donations.
Find out the top five in your state below, and click through to see where your school ranks.
NEW SOUTH WALES
While the richest private schools in NSW have added tens of millions of dollars to their coffers over the past five years, in the same period nearly 200 schools – the majority of them public – have lost funding to the tune of $90 million.
Analysis of school finances as reported to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has revealed 168 primary, secondary and combined schools have seen their gross annual income shrink between 2018 and 2022. All but 50 are government schools.
It comes as NSW’s 20 wealthiest schools – all based in Northern Sydney or the inner city, with the exception of The King’s School in Parramatta – have raked in more than $6.7 billion combined in the same period – a sum more than six times the amount the NSW government will spend on basic maintenance of its public schools this year.
Richest schools in NSW (five-year income)
■ Knox Grammar School: $559,668,410
■ Barker College: $462,564,688
■ Sydney Grammar School: $456,106,758
■ The Scots College: $447,147,389
■ Pymble Ladies College: $409,545,637
QUEENSLAND
The five richest schools in the state made more money in five years than the poorest 340 combined, highlighting the disparity between public and private education, amid ongoing crucial national negotiations to overhaul the school funding model.
Five years’ worth of financial data from the MySchool database was collated to rank more than 1650 Queensland schools.
Brisbane Grammar School retains the top spot having earned $321m, St Peters Lutheran College moves from third to second with a 26 per cent income increase over the five-year period totalling $284m.
Anglican Church Grammar School closely followed with $283m, King’s Christian College on the Gold Coast recorded $281m, and Brisbane Girls Grammar School totalled $246m to round out the top five.
Richest schools in Queensland (five-year income)
■ Brisbane Grammar School: $321,428,087
■ St Peters Lutheran College: $284,838,156
■ Anglican Church Grammar School: $283,081,077
■ King’s Christian College: $281,331,501
■ Brisbane Girls Grammar School: $246,435,600
VICTORIA
The state’s wealthiest schools have state-of-the-art sporting and learning facilities and billion-dollar historic grounds, while some of Victoria’s poorest schools are struggling to get basic upgrades and additional funding.
The top 20 richest schools – all private – have a combined five-year gross income of $7.5b. This compares to $280m for the bottom 100 schools, most of which are state schools.
It takes around 800 of the bottom-earning schools to have the same income as the top 20 wealthiest.
Independent school Haileybury College in Keysborough has once again been crowned as Victoria’s richest school, with a combined five-year income of $722m – $45,000 more than the previous five-year period.
Richest schools in Victoria (five-year income)
■ Haileybury College: $722,927,840
■ Wesley College: $608,985,081
■ Caulfield Grammar School: $602,808,319
■ Carey Baptist Grammar School: $431,762,007
■ Ivanhoe Grammar School: $394,973,020
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
A wealthy inner-city college has raked in more than half a billion dollars in recent years, eclipsing the funds flowing to the state’s smallest schools, new data reveals.
St Peter’s College, which charges $31,190 for Year 12 tuition, is the only school to boast a five-year gross income of more than $250m.
The all-boys school on the edge of Adelaide’s CBD raked in $253.7m in fees, charges and private and government funding between 2018 and 2022.
In contrast, public Robertstown Primary School, in the state’s mid north, had to scrape by with $2.67m over the same period.
Analysis of school financial records from the MySchool website has revealed huge disparities in school coffers across the state.
Richest schools in SA (five-year income)
■ St Peter’s College: $253,737,493
■ Pembroke School: $245,205,157
■ Sacred Heart College: $200,632,153
■ St Michael’s College: $189,486,559
■ Nazareth Catholic College Findon Campus: $188,122,891
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Richest schools in WA (five-year income)
■ Christ Church Grammar School: $302,133,963
■ Hale School: $278,500,995
■ Scotch College: $244,509,522
■ St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ School: $224,484,882
■ St Stephen’s School: $205,479,948
NORTHERN TERRITORY
An independent analysis of every Territory schools’ financial records has revealed the abundance of money some schools make each year, compared to what others are forced to scrape by on.
Palmerston College saw the highest gross income in the Territory according to the MySchool website’s data, earning $130.8 million in the five years to 2022.
In 2022 alone, its gross income tallied to $27.7 million with a total of $24,183 per student.
Richest schools in NT (five-year income)
■ Palmerston College: $130,810,874
■ Taminmin College: $123,409,207
■ Darwin High School: $118,333,112
■ Good Shepherd Lutheran College: $105,631,762
■ The Essington School: $100,373,568
TASMANIA
The gap between Tasmania’s richest and poorest schools continues to widen with the wealthiest school raking in more than $164.3m in five years with the total income per student sitting at $29,166 in 2022, the most recent school funding statistics reveal.
Meanwhile the state’s poorest school had a gross income of $2.5m over the five-year period, but with far fewer students the income per student in 2022 was $41,335.
An independent analysis of school financial records from the MySchool website have shown the massive amount of money some schools make every year, and how little some schools are forced to scrape by on.
Richest schools in Tasmania (five-year income)
■ The Friends’ School: $164.3m
■ St Patrick’s College: $152.9m
■ Scotch Oakburn College: $139.6m
■ The Hutchins School: $138.5m
■ Launceston Church Grammar School: $106.2m
ACT
Australian Capital Territory’s richest school has raked in more than $313.9 million in five years with the total income per student sitting at $36,310 in 2022, the most recent school funding statistics reveal.
An independent analysis of school financial records from the MySchool website have shown the massive amount of money some schools make every year, and how little some schools are forced to scrape by on.
The figures revealed Canberra Grammar School in Red Hill had a higher gross income than any other school in the Australian Capital Territory region.
Richest schools in ACT (five-year income)
■ Canberra Grammar School: $313,852,828
■ Radford College: $242,815,348
■ St Mary MacKillop College: $175,865,750
■ Canberra Girls Grammar School: $173,122,097
■ Marist College Canberra: $155,504,203
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