The 20 schools received almost $218 million in government funding in 2023.
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“It means they are being over-funded compared to public and other private schools that do not have such privileged income streams,” he said.
“It is an inequity that must be ended.”
Cobbold said the “loophole” resulted in higher government funding for schools than if non-fee income was included in the government funding assessment.
“Wealthy schools are in the privileged position of being able to collect millions in donations to fund more luxurious facilities which they can hire out,” he said.
“All this is because by some twisted logic these schools are regarded as charities.
“It is a huge waste of funds and simply adds to the huge resource advantage that exclusive private schools have over public schools.
“It reduces the amount of funds that would have far greater impact if spent on schools educating children from disadvantaged backgrounds.”
But Association of Independent Schools WA executive director Chris Massey said this argument was nonsensical.
He said the funding private schools received through these additional income streams were critical, to be used on refurbishment and upgrades to facilities and infrastructure because there was no government funding allocated for capital works under the current funding model.
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Public schools are allocated capital works funding through the government.
He also said parental income was considered by the federal and state government when determining funding for schools, and so those institutions with higher parental incomes were receiving less than other schools anyway.
“The additional funding is the only way these high parental income schools can keep up with upgrades, unlike public schools which receive funding for capital works from the government,” Massey said.
“There is this stereotypical view out there that high fee private schools are using public money for capital works. This simply is not the case and not allowed under the funding model.”
Cobbold has called for the federal government to commission the National School Resourcing Board to conduct an inquiry on including non-fee income in the funding model.
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