Taxpayer funding for Catholic schools to be kept a secret

Australian taxpayers will be kept in the dark over how their money will be divided between Catholic schools as the Turnbull government makes changes to the online funding estimator.

The Gonski 2.0 model, which has already been slammed by a number of people within the Catholic sector, doesn’t spell out individual estimates for more than 1,700 institutions, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The online guide will now only show estimates per-student in their respective state rather than per-school, with many principals telling parents to disregard the tool entirely.

At present the system shows that in Victoria a Catholic school student will receive $12,705 in Commonwealth funding by 2027, in NSW $12,746, Queensland $12,534 and Western Australia $12,813.

This doesn’t take into account a school’s type or what funding they were usually excepted to receive.

Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham argued a number of non-government schools were in support of the new and improved estimator because it ‘prevented confusion amongst school communities.’

A school-by-school analysis will still be provided for the majority of state and independent schools

Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham argued a number of non-government schools were in support of the new and improved estimator

‘For schools that are part of a ‘system’ we pay their funding to the system body as a lump sum and the legislation passed in June gives those system bodies autonomy over how they distribute Commonwealth funding,’ he said. 

But in an effort to make public funding more transparent, former principal Ivan Webb said it’s a step backwards because schools won’t know if they’re getting a ‘fair deal’.

A school-by-school analysis will still be provided for the majority of state and independent schools.