The private schools paying senior staff more than $300,000

Senior staff members at nine Sydney private schools earned an average of $300,000 or more last year, as parents braved sharp fee rises.

The total salaries of “key” managers at some private schools jumped by hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2023, financial information schools must now disclose as part of charity reporting rules introduced two years ago shows.

It comes as federal education bureaucrats labelled the high salaries of some private school principals as inconsistent with community expectations.

The total amount paid to all senior leaders at Riverview jumped from $1.2 million in 2022 to $3.7 million last year. A key manager now takes home $310,538 on average at that school.

Boys’ school Trinity Grammar had the best pay for executives on average, with its four key management personnel collectively paid just over $2 million last year – an average of $418,000.

It is up to schools to choose which staff they include as “key” managers but the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission defines those jobs as having responsibility for planning, directing and controlling the activities of a not-for-profit organisation, such as a school.

The Scots College, Ravenswood and Abbotsleigh all paid key managers more than $350,000 on average last year.

Ascham in Edgecliff, where key management staff make $300,000 a year on average.Credit: Janie Barrett

By comparison, a principal in the public system takes home $216,264 a year.

Commonwealth Department of Education deputy secretary Meg Brighton last month told Senate estimates her department believed the high salaries at some schools were “an inconsistency with community expectations”.

NSW Parents’ Council president Rose Cantali, whose organisation represents parents of children at the state’s independent schools, said parents were happy to pay fees but said many were struggling after sharp hikes in recent years.

“I think parents are struggling,” Cantali said. “A lot of parents don’t have the money, a lot would tap into their mortgages – they struggle, but they are committed to their child’s education.”

Unlike other jurisdictions, such as Britain, they are not required to publicly report principals’ salary band information.

Association of Independent Schools of NSW chief executive Margery Evans said private school salaries reflected responsibilities, qualifications and skills, as well as experience, school size and the availability of talent.

Association of Independent Schools of NSW chief executive Margery Evans.Credit: Rhett Wyman

“The independent schools mentioned are large autonomous entities with several hundred staff, budgets of $50 [million] to $100 million, and extensive facilities. These must be managed internally, whereas all significant operations for public schools are centrally managed by the department,” she said.

She said private schools also had to independently manage payroll, recruitment, IT, finance, legal and communications work, among other things.

“Independent school boards are responsible and accountable for recruiting and remunerating principals, commensurate with the size, complexity, responsibility and operational scope of the school, which varies widely across the sector,” Evans said.

Private schools are required to lodge financial statements to a number of entities, including the federal Education Department.

Of the private school financial statements analysed by the Herald, inner west boys’ school Newington posted the biggest surplus, of $9 million, in 2023; this was up from $4 million in 2022. The school raised fees by 9 per cent for 2024.

Wenona also banked a surplus of $9 million last year. Principal Briony Scott said all retained surpluses were reinvested in the school. “Wenona funds its running costs and any future major capital projects through good governance of our financial resources and a culture of wise commercial decisions,” she said.

Kambala, King’s and Scots all posted a surplus above $7 million last year.

“Kambala has a series of capital works in progress,” a spokeswoman for that school said. “As you are aware, independent schools have to fund all building and minor capital works out of surplus revenue.”

Kambala in Rose Bay had a surplus of $7 million last year.Credit: Fairfax

MLC in Burwood posted a surplus of $6,807,264. “The school bases its financial management decisions on maintaining the highest standard of education and facilities for our students today and in the future,” a spokeswoman said.

Social researcher Morgan Harrington, from left-wing think tank the Australia Institute, said there should be public accountability about how public money given to private schools was being spent.

“As not-for-profit entities, private schools are legally not allowed to make a profit, but they can generate a surplus that can be reinvested,” he said.

“This means a group of elite private schools competes to provide the most luxurious accoutrements, which creates an even greater divide between private schools and public schools.”

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