Penny Allman-Payne (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Australian Education Amendment (2023 Capital Funding) Regulations 2023, made under the Australian Education Act 2013, be disallowed [F2023L01064].

These regulations would increase the capital funding indexation percentage for block grant authorities for non-government schools in 2023, thereby increasing federal funding to capital works for private schools by $21.2 million, up to a total annual sum of $215.7 million. This disallowance would maintain the indexation for capital works for non-government schools at its current rate. This doesn't mean that money is being ripped away from private schools. They would still receive an annual sum of $194 million among numerous other buckets of cash that they have access to. The purpose of this disallowance is simply for the government to prioritise helping our struggling public schools before pouring more money into the private-school system.

Furthermore, we note that there are significant concerns around how block grant authorities distribute these resources, with minimal accountability across block grant authorities leading to some poorly funded Catholic schools being stranded in a system that gives lavishly to private schools for more pools and orchestra pits. Recently, in New South Wales it was reported that two private schools had to pay back more than $23 million in government funding because it turned out that they were turning a profit. It is a total farce that our system allows for these types of things to happen, and that the government can have such little oversight of the goings-on of these schools and the block grant authorities that schools can be making a profit.

It is important as well to really emphasise what money private schools receive. On top of the SRS—and keep in mind that 98 per cent of private schools are overfunded when it comes to the SRS and they get loaded up on a per-student basis—private schools can also add the exorbitant fees that they charge to the money pot. We know that fees have gone up by between 50 per cent and 80 per cent as well as funds such as this one. With the tap never turning off, it's no wonder some school principals decide to indulge in decadent things like plunge pools and new RM Williams uniforms for their students. What's the incentive for them not to? What else does this pot pour into? One of the top Brisbane schools recently flashed its plans to expand with a six-storey building, including an art-science wet space, a library and a dedicated performing arts rehearsal space.