Families unable to afford state school fees have been publicly shamed and their children excluded from extracurricular activities, a report has revealed.
The independent review, ordered by Education Minister James Merlino, revealed the department received 705 complaints relating to school payments within just eight months.
More News Videos
- Video duration
- 01:39
Concerns over rising state school fees
- Video duration
- 02:11
Lindt siege police response in question
- Video duration
- 01:46
Education funding changes
- Video duration
- 02:08
It's on: Turnbull v Rudd
- Video duration
- 00:43
Labor's legacy of shame
- Video duration
- 00:41
Malcolm Roberts said what about Waleed Aly?
- Video duration
- 01:00
Which are the world's top universities?
- Video duration
- 04:41
Digital doorstop: Housing affordability
Concerns over rising state school fees
Parents Victoria's executive officer Gail McHardy says extra support for low-income families is a positive as "families are doing it tough not just in Victoria but across Australia".
The Victorian education department quietly released the document after the Victorian Auditor-General exposed a severe lack of transparency around parent payments, and a lack of "checks and balances" to supervise school practices.
The review, compiled by PTR Consulting, found parents claimed they were being "singled out publicly" for not paying fees, and raised concerns about the high costs of Victoria's state school education.
One school charged year 7 parents $1800, while "wide variation" in how schools interpreted department rules resulted in wealthier schools raising a higher level of revenue.
The review was dated December 2015 but uploaded online on Monday, after repeated requests by Fairfax Media.
It comes as education lobby groups slam the department's new parent payment policy, claiming it allows Victorian schools to adopt a "user pay" system, and fails to hold schools to account over unauthorised fees and levies.
The department updated its policy in July, after the financial watchdog found its guidelines were vague and "confusing" for schools, leading to "incorrect" charges.
Fairfax Media previously revealed a state school charged parents to secure a place for their child, and another charged for SMS notifications and diversity programs.
Under the revised policy, schools will continue charging parents for uniforms, ID cards, textbooks, excursions and programs a school may deem central to their curriculum.
Schools can also ask parents to pay for items provided on a "user-pay" basis, such as school magazines, class photos, fees for guest speakers, student accident insurance and music tuition.
Schools are permitted to pursue parents for "essential" payments on a monthly basis.
Save Our Schools' national convenor, Trevor Cobbold, said schools were chronically under-funded, and were relying on parents to fund basic school resources - a practice he said the government appeared to endorse.
The public education advocate said education should not be provided on a "user pay" basis, claiming this ran "totally counter to the principle of free public education".
"I think that is objectionable ... better off schools will have more of a chance to get parents to pay, and therefore have more resources than schools that are serving disadvantaged communities."
The education department will now audit schools to ensure their policy is upheld.
The department has also extended support to low income families by implementing a "parent payment contact person" at schools, who would arrange flexible payment plans, subsidies, or waive costs for struggling families.
Parents Victoria's executive officer Gail McHardy said extra support for low-income families was a positive.
But she questioned the need for monthly reminders for payments, branding it "overkill".
"Any formal reminder on anything pertaining to payment is wrong."
Ms McHardy also said the department remained "silent" on how non-compliant schools would be punished.
Victorian parents forked out $310 million to state schools in 2013, or $558 per student, a rise of $70 million since 2009, the watchdog found.
An education department spokesman said: "The revised Parent Payment policy ensures that all students can take part in school activities and have the materials they need to learn, regardless of their background."
Mr Merlino on Monday said parents requested to be sent monthly reminders about parent payments to help them plan their budget.
"There is no penalty for parents unable to pay and the reminder letter has information about the help available to them under mandatory hardship arrangements in all Victorian government schools," he said.
"We consulted extensively with parent groups and welfare agencies to create a new Parent Payment policy that makes sure all students have the materials they need to learn."