The Catholic school sector has reacted angrily to suggestions it is "funnelling" money away from students in disadvantaged areas to those in wealthy suburbs.
At fiery and, at times, personal Senate hearings,Catholic education authorities also opened up a new front in the school funding debate by warning the Turnbull government's changes could lead city dioceses to break away and form their own systems so they don't have to send money to schools in poorer regional areas.
More National News Videos
Senators clash over schools funding
Sarah Hanson-Young accuses Jacinta Collins of running "a protection racket for the Catholics" as a Senate committee grows heated.
Catholic education commissions in each state and territory receive government funding in a lump sum, which they distribute among their schools as they see fit.
Fairfax Media revealed last month that Catholic schools in low-income areas were receiving up to $1.5 million less than they were allocated under the federal government's needs-based formula.
![Catholic education commissions in each state and territory receive government funding in a lump sum, which they ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170607032930im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/a/i/2/a/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwkonm.png/1496725813596.jpg)
Meanwhile, schools in wealthy suburbs such as Elwood in Melbourne and Pymble in Sydney were receiving funding significantly above their allocation in order to keep fees low.
The Senate hearings into the Turnbull government's proposed new funding model became heated on Monday when Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young accused Labor senator Jacinta Collins - a practising Catholic - of running a "protection racket" for the Catholic sector.
An outraged Senator Collins demanded Senator Hanson-Young withdraw the comment, which she agreed to.
Ross Fox, a former executive director of the National Catholic Education Commission, released a new analysis showing funding for disadvantaged Catholic schools was 54 per cent higher than for Catholic schools in wealthy areas.
![Labor senator Jacinta Collins said she was not running a "protection racket" for the Catholic schools sector.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170607032930im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/i/f/z/0/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwkonm.png/1496725813596.jpg)
But this redistribution will not be possible in the future if city dioceses break away from the state-based Catholic education systems, he said.
"There are already discussions about whether for the 11 dioceses in NSW, whether it would be in their interests to all stick together if the model is passed," Mr Fox, now director of Catholic education for the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, said.
"It may be to the advantage [of the metropolitan dioceses] to form a separate system and we would be in a very invidious position where we couldn't benefit from the redistribution that is going on."
Catholic authorities said they were in a better position to know which of their schools needed increased funding than the federal government's "crude" socio-economic status formula.
Stephen Elder, head of the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria, said it was absurd that a Catholic primary school next to a housing commission in inner-city Melbourne was deemed to be more advantaged than the elite Geelong Grammar School.
Mr Elder said state governments redistributed funding among their schools and often over-funded selective high schools and public schools in wealthy areas.
Ian Baker, head of policy at the NSW Catholic Education Commission, said Catholic schools in low-income areas such as Punchbowl in Sydney were being given up to $1.3 million less than their federal funding allocation for the "common good" of the system.
"Our obligation is to keep all 558 Catholic schools in NSW operationally viable," he said.
"It is about relative need."
Senator Hanson-Young said it was "extraordinary" that Catholic authorities had prioritised keeping fees low in wealthy suburbs over sending money to their neediest schools.
Senator Hanson-Young said the Greens would only support the government's changes if it gave more money to needy schools, speeded up its 10-year timeframe and created a new independent school resourcing body.
6 comments
Comment are now closed