Information and graphs supplied by the National Catholic Education Commission, June 2010.

Catholic school funding - the facts

Catholic schools receive funding from both state and federal governments as well as contributions from parents via the payment of school fees.

• Catholic schools have been providing a quality Catholic education for Australian children for 190 years
  
  
• There are approximately 1,700 Catholic schools in Australia with an enrolment of almost 704,000 students
  
  
• In the Diocese of Parramatta there are 78 systemic Catholic schools serving over 43,000 students
  
  
• In Australia, the Catholic school system employs over 78,000 teachers and staff. This is more people than the entire Australian workforce involved in the manufacturing of motor vehicles, or the same number of people employed across every department store in Australia
  
  
• There are over 4,000 teachers and staff working in Catholic systemic schools in the Diocese of Parramatta
  
  
• Catholic school students receive significantly less government funding than students in government schools
  
  
• Some of this gap is made up by contributions from parents and parishes through tuition fees, levies and fundraising, however Catholic schools keep fees as low as possible so they are affordable for families
  
  
• No child is ever refused enrolment because of a family’s inability to pay school fees
  
  
• Catholic systemic schools in the Diocese of Parramatta offer sibling discounts to all families, and fee concessions and scholarships are available for families in financial need
  
  
• On average, Australian Catholic schools operate at about 85% of the resourcing level of government schools, even when parent contributions are taken into account. In the Diocese of Parramatta Catholic systemic schools operate at about 76% of the resourcing level of government schools due to lower parent contributions 
  

funding information brochure

Annual Diocesan Tuition Fees can be paid upfront at the start of the year or as three equal payments in Terms 1, 2 and 3. The fee is only charged for the first three (3) children currently enrolled in the diocese (in other words there is no additional Diocesan Tuition Fee for the fourth child attending a systemic school in the diocese or other participating Catholic schools - see 'Sibling Discounts' below). To work out how much the fee is for each child, check the table below.

The 2013 Annual Diocesan Tuition Fees are as follows:

The 2013 term rate for each of the first three terms is as follows: 

Annual Diocesan School Fees Primary 2013

Annual Diocesan School Fees Secondary 2013

Sibling discounts apply to Diocesan Tuition Fees payable by a family where that family is also paying a full Diocesan fee on the eldest sibling. These are included above at 25% discount for the second child, 50% for the third child and 100% for the fourth and subsequent children attending Catholic systemic schools in the Diocese of Parramatta, Archdiocese of Sydney, Diocese of Wollongong, and Diocese of Broken Bay as well as at St Dominic’s College, Kingswood.

In addition, principals have the discretion to give a discount of up to 10% on the total diocesan tuition fee where there are siblings attending congregational schools and the principal believes that the financial circumstances of a given family warrant some reduction.

Please click on the Sibling Discount Applicable Schools attachment to see if your school is listed:

Searchable spreadsheet version

PDF version
 
If your school is listed with the comment Discount Automatically Applied in the Advice Required column, you do not need to do anything further. However where children are in more than one School you will need to make sure that family information in each School is identical for sibling discounts to be calculated. Sibling discounts only apply in the current year and cannot be backdated or adjusted for prior years. Therefore Parents should check Invoice/Statements carefully to ensure correct discounts have been received.

If any of your children attend a school listed with the comment Sibling Advice Notice Required in the Advice Required column please take the following action:

1. Open and print out the Sibling Registration for Diocesan Tuition Fees form;
   
   
2. Complete the form in full, listing all children attending Catholic Diocesan System Schools or St Dominic's College, Kingswood in 2013; and
   
   
3. Post the completed form to the address at the bottom of the form.

If your school is not shown in the attachment list we are unfortunately unable to grant a sibling discount in relation to your child's attendance at that school.

All families with one or more children in a Parramatta Diocesan school or at St Dominic's College, Kingswood are required to pay the annual Diocese of Parramatta Diocesan School Building Levy. This levy has replaced the various building levies that parents previously paid to school building funds (managed by either parishes or schools).

The levy for 2013 is $645 per family, payable in three equal instalments of $215 payable in terms one, two and three.

The money collected from the levy is paid into a fund from which building costs and loan repayments for these schools are paid. The levy is not tax deductible.

Please note: families enrolling a child in other non-systemic schools or systemic schools outside the diocese may also be required to pay a levy to those schools where they operate their own building fund.

Annual Statement

The continuing success of the Diocesan School Building Levy has enabled the Parramatta Diocesan Catholic Schools Council to implement its policy to bring all schools up to the levels established by the Bishops of NSW, based on Australian Government standards.

The current construction program totals $232m of projects planned for construction between 2011 and 2020. For the current report of building projects and debt servicing see the annual statement below.

2011 Building Levy Annual Statement

2010 Building Levy Annual Statement

2009 Building Levy Annual Statement 

A Temporary Residents Education Feeapplies to new families joining the system from 2012 on the following Visa numbers: 173, 411, 415, 416, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 426, 427, 428, 442, 457, 459, 476, 485, 497, 956.

The fee for 2013 is $1,575 per family, payable in three equal installments of $525 payable in terms one, two and three.

There will be some other school fees such as enrolment, resources, subject, excursion and sports fees. These vary from school to school and are explained at the time of enrolment.

The following methods of payment are acceptable for the settlement of School Fees:
Cash, Cheque or Money Order, EFTPOS, Direct Debit, BPAY, Postbillpay, Centrepay Deductions, Credit Card (Visa & MasterCard only). 

Direct Debit Request Service Agreement

If you are experiencing financial hardship and are unable to pay fees, please discuss the situation with your school principal. Your situation will be treated with care and confidentiality and an appropriate arrangement may be made for you.

No student will be refused enrolment because of a family’s genuine inability to pay fees.

As you know from July 2013, the NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell is planning to cut school education funding by $1.7 billion and cap the level of funding to non-government schools over the next four years.

Additionally, the current funding model - which links state education expenditure to federal government funding - means for every $1 of state funding lost we stand to lose $3 dollars in federal funding (public schools stand to lose 30c in federal funding).

While there is still some uncertainty about the actual amount of the loss, we know this will have a substantial impact on the amount of government funding Catholic schools receive in the Diocese of Parramatta.

To give parents greater certainty for the 2013 school year and bearing in mind the financial pressures many families are facing, the Parramatta Diocesan Catholic Schools Council has recommended an average increase of 4.9% in tuition fees and the building levy.

This increase will not make up the shortfall from the funding cuts but is necessary to help meet the rising educational costs for each child.

Learn how you can help stop the funding cuts