One of Melbourne Grammar School’s fundamental beliefs is that all children should receive an excellent education. As a community, we understand that education is key to prosperity, to the health of individuals and societies, and to the purpose people can bring, create and achieve in their lives.
We also believe that, because each child is different, parents should be able to make an informed choice about the type of school where they want their children to be educated, and the decisions of governments can have both positive and negative impacts here.
Government funding to schools in Australia provides a certain level of financial support per child, per year. This funding is known as the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) and, in 2024, the SRS base amount is approximately $17,000 for each secondary student and approximately $13,500 for each primary student.
Additional funding is provided to ‘schools in need’ based on factors such as English language proficiency and remoteness. Melbourne Grammar does not receive any additional funding on this basis.
For non-government schools, and only these schools, the amount of SRS funding is reduced depending on the estimated income of families within the school community. In the case of Melbourne Grammar, the baseline SRS of $17,000 was reduced to just over $4,000 per child this year.
It is also helpful to note that, in addition to the SRS, the State government funds the infrastructure for government schools. The SRS funding cannot be used for capital works so non-government schools must look for alternate funding sources. In our case, we rely on heavily on philanthropic support for major building projects and infrastructure renewal.
An additional factor at play is the introduction of a new State Government tax being applied selectively to Melbourne Grammar, along with a small number of other non-government schools. From 1 July 2024, the School will begin paying close to $3 million in payroll tax to the State Government every year, cancelling out the approximately $1.7 million we receive in state-based SRS funding, and actually adding around $1.3 million to our financial burden.
Some people claim that independent schools such as ours should receive no government funding at all with the allocation going back into the ‘pot’ for government schools as this would increase funding to those schools. Unfortunately, this is a false assumption.
For government schools, 80% of SRS funding is provided by the State Government with the remainder being funded by the Federal Government. For non-government schools, including Melbourne Grammar, it is the reverse with 80% of the SRS being provided by the Federal Government and 20% by the State Government. This means that any governmental gain achieved by reducing our allocation would mainly go into the Federal coffers and have little impact on the funds available to State Government schools.
In addition, the introduction of the payroll tax has led to non-government schools making the decision to increase school fees. Inevitably, this increase means that some parents can no longer afford the cost of a private school education, and have transferred their children to government schools. This situation only shifts the financial burden of those children to the taxpayer.
At Melbourne Grammar School, we want to ensure that talented and motivated students are able to attend the School regardless of their financial circumstances. This is why donor-supported Access Scholarships are so important. They mean that there is a continued focus on excellence within the School. They also lead to an increase in diversity across the student cohort and this benefits every student.
The School Council will continue to monitor and respond to changes in the way the School is funded, recognising our obligation to ensure that every Melbourne Grammar student has an exemplary education.
Andrew Michelmore, AO
Chair, Melbourne Grammar School Council
