Question On Notice No. 1470 asked in the Legislative Council on 14 August 2018 by Hon Alison Xamon
Question Directed to the: Minister for Education and Training
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Tabled Paper No: 1743-
View tabled paper
Question
I refer to per capita grants provided by the Western Australian
Government to non-government schools, and I ask:
(a) for each non-government school, please list:
(i) how much total funding has been allocated
for 2018; and
(ii) the per student funding rate for 2018?
Answered on 11 September 2018
(a)(i)-(ii) See Tabled Paper No.
Funding is determined and calculated bi-annually according to the February and August censuses. The table of grants in the tabled paper represents the grants paid in Semester 1, 2018. A similar quantum of payments will be paid in Semester 2, 2018, subject to the movements in enrolments at a particular school. Per-student funding rates vary depending on the level of schooling and the funding category of a particular school. Special education loadings of 110%, 210% and 360% are provided for eligible students with disabilities on top of the base rates given below. A high-support needs grant is provided for students with very severe disabilities. Special education and high-support need grants are included in the grant totals reported in the tabled paper, according to the categories in the following table:
Funding Category
|
Kindergarten
|
Primary
|
Middle School
|
Upper Secondary
|
(4 sessions)
|
(PP-Y6)
|
(Y7-Y10)
|
(Y11-Y12)
|
2018
|
2018
|
2018
|
2018
|
$
|
$
|
$
|
$
|
A
|
2 536
|
1 690
|
2 484
|
2 566
|
B
|
2 922
|
1 946
|
2 862
|
3 156
|
|
|
|
|
|
C
|
2 934
|
1 957
|
2 875
|
3 233
|
D
|
3 026
|
2 017
|
2 966
|
3 329
|
E
|
3 175
|
2 116
|
3 109
|
3 475
|
F
|
3 311
|
2 206
|
3 243
|
3 588
|
G
|
3 415
|
2 277
|
3 347
|
3 718
|
GA
|
5 088
|
3 393
|
4 987
|
5 534
|
H
|
|
|
4 987
|
5 534
|
I
|
6 769
|
4 514
|
6 635
|
7 312
|
J
|
0
|
9 810
|
14 421
|
15 888
|
HSN
(High Support Needs)
|
14 631
|
36 577
|
36 577
|
36 577
|
The funding categories can be generally described as follows:
A High-Fee Schools
B,C,D Mid to high-fee schools
E Mid-fee schools
F Low-fee schools
G Very low fee, predominantly rural schools
GA Very low fee, rural boarding schools, catering for Aboriginal students
H Curriculum and Re-Engagement Schools
I Remote, sole provider Aboriginal community schools
J Agricultural Schools
Six of the current State funding categories (A to G) are based on the original 12 Commonwealth Education Resources Index (ERI) funding categories. The ERI was a measure of revenue-raising ability. Additional high-needs categories also exist for students at non-mainstream non-government schools (GA to J).
Although the Commonwealth replaced the ERI with the socio-economic status and capacity to contribute models, reviews of the State’s funding methodology in 2002 and 2015 recommended that the existing ERI-based model be retained.
Retention of the model was supported by the non-government school sector in Western Australia.