JobKeeper helped elite schools increase their profits

It was designed to make up for falling revenue due to Covid, but these Melbourne private schools increased their profits with the help of JobKeeper.

Seven hundred Australian private schools shared more than $750m in JobKeeper, despite most posting multimillion-dollar surpluses, new data shows.

One school, St Leonard’s College in Brighton East, received $6.2m in JobKeeper but posted a $10m surplus. The school has assets of $155m and charges parents up to $33,000 in fees a year.

A quarter of Victorian non-government schools received on average $1m each, according to analysis by Trevor Cobbold of Save Our Schools for federal parliament.

Private schools across the country with assets of up to $200m accounted for 1 per cent of the $88bn scheme.

Mr Cobbold said elite schools increased profits with JobKeeper, which was designed to make up for falling revenue in 2020 due to Covid.

Melbourne schools were among the highest recipients in the country, including Wesley College ($18m), Penleigh and Essendon Grammar ($9.2m) and Geelong Grammar ($8m).

Almost all of 19 JobKeeper schools identified by the Herald Sun posted multimillion dollar profits for the same period, including $2.1m for Wesley College, $6m for Penleigh and Essendon Grammar and $6.6m for Bialik College.

“Why such schools received JobKeeper payments when making profits is beyond comprehension. It is disgraceful and immoral that the wealthiest private schools in the country accepted millions of taxpayer dollars from JobKeeper while running surpluses of millions,” Mr Cobbold said.

He said schools such as Penleigh and Essendon Grammar and St Leonard’s College tripled or doubled their profits with the help of JobKeeper.

The Australian Tax Office has identified just $12 million in overpayments made to non-government schools through compliance probes, Mr Cobbold said.

Schools were required to post a drop in turnover of 30 per cent in the June and September quarters in 2020 to qualify for JobKeeper.

Many were boarding schools that suffered a drop in income when state boarders and travel restrictions came in.

But Mr Cobbold said “relatively few of the schools receiving JobKeeper relied heavily on boarding students and the income from boarding fees only accounted for a small part of the total revenue for many”.

Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School in Keilor East. Picture: Mark Stewart

“Ballarat Grammar was a similar case. Its reduction in boarding income of $1 million was more than covered by its JobKeeper payment of $5.9 million,” he said.

Independent Senator Rex Patrick said tax payers had a right to know the names of large employers who received JobKeeper, and how many have had to pay it back.

“Jobkeeper was a wage subsidy scheme for businesses significantly affected by COVID-19. And yet some businesses took it, improved their profits and then paid larger dividends to their shareholders and bonuses to their executives,” he said.

Originally published as JobKeeper helped elite schools increase their profits