Batchelor Institute records $2.7m deficit
THE Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education has sunk further into the red and recorded a deficit of $2.7m
Northern Territory
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THE Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education has sunk further into the red, recording a deficit of $2.7m in its most recent annual report.
The 2019-20 result was a whopping 13 times worse than its $200,000 deficit in 2016-17.
The Batchelor Institute, based about 100km south of Darwin, was among only four Australian higher education institutions to end the year with net operating losses.
The deficit has grown by $1.5m since 2018-19 – despite the Institute increasing its revenue by $1.4m last financial year.
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This income boost was largely thanks to the Northern Territory government hiking up its funding support for the institute by about 19 per cent, or $2.2m.
However, the annual report shows this was offset as expenses increased at the institute by $2.9m compared to the previous year.
This was mainly due to employee-related expenses increasing by $3.2m, or 15 per cent.
Much of that cost was due to settling backpay in salary increases from 2017 and paying out staff redundancies.
The increased expenses were also attributed to depreciation, repairs and maintenance and borrowing costs going up by $500,000, or 30 per cent, due to higher asset values as a result of changes in accounting treatment of leases.
Batchelor Institute’s council chairwoman Patricia Anderson noted in the report that the overall financial impact of COVID-19 had not been fully quantified for the 2020 financial year.
The institute also saw a $100,000 hit to income during the last financial year due to a reduction in Vocational Education and Training student numbers compared to the year prior.
The institute also completed major capital works amounting to $600,000 last financial year, and had $500,000 in major capital works in progress for the refurbishment of campus ceilings, roofing and flood mitigation, among other upgrades.
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It comes after the NT government announced the groundbreaking Remote Aboriginal Teacher Education program would be reinstated through a trial this year.
The program ran in the 1980s and 90s and provided employment pathways for remote residents to pursue a career in education.
It will be delivered in partnership with Charles Darwin University and the Batchelor Institute.
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