But despite almost $100 million in Commonwealth and state government grants in 2022,the sector warned a new method of funding would strip tens of millions of dollars from grammar schools – resulting in fee increases.
Brisbane Grammar School received $53 million in fees from parents last year and $12 million in state and federal funding.Glenn Hunt
The financial details are revealed in annual reports for Queensland’s eight grammar schools,which are registered not-for-profits and exempt from Commonwealth taxation,except for fringe benefit tax and GST.
Brisbane Grammar School – which charged high school students a hefty $29,000 annual fee – listed assets of $269 million last year,and the inner-city school’s campus,spanning Spring Hill and Normanby,was given a value of $30.3 million – up from $24 million a year earlier.
Brisbane Grammar received $53 million in tuition,boarding,confirmation and enrolment fees from families,and $12 million in state and federal funding last year.
In comparison,prestigious public school Brisbane State High received $2.8 million from fees,charges and parent contributions and almost $40 million in state and federal recurrent funding in 2021,using the most up-to-date data available via the My School website.
Brisbane Grammar posted an $819,000 operating surplus,which was described in its annual report as “good financial practice”,to give confidence that independent schools were financially viable and responsibly managed.
Overall,the eight Queensland grammar schools received $99 million in state and federal grants in 2022,up from $92.9 million the previous year.
But those grammar schools were forecast to lose $70 million in Australian government funding from 2022 to 2029,according to Independent Schools Queensland,under a model called (DMI).
DMI is based on the capacity of families to contribute to school fees,determined by the median taxable income of non-government schools’ parents derived from personal income tax data.
The arrangement was expected to have a “significant detrimental effect”,according to Rockhampton Grammar School,which said it would receive $13.5 million less in Commonwealth recurrent funding from 2022 to 2029.
As a result,the central Queensland school raised its fees by 4.75 per cent in 2022 and 6.25 per cent in 2023. Fees increased to $12,200 per year for high school.
“RGS is committed to being accessible to as many parents as possible,however with fee increases of this magnitude necessary over a relatively short period of time due to funding changes,the school’s accessibility is clearly threatened,” Rockhampton Grammar School’s annual report reads.
“It is not in the interests of regional and rural communities for RGS to become a smaller,less accessible school catering only for parents from higher income brackets.”
RGS,which reported total assets of $99 million,$20 million in school fees,and $19 million in state and federal grants,posted a $1.5 million surplus last year.
Data from the government’s My School website shows one in three of the school’s students come from the top quarter of Australian family incomes. One in 10 are from the bottom quarter.
At Rockhampton State High School,just 4 per cent of students come from the top quarter of family incomes,while 53 per cent are in the bottom quarter.