Archbishop of Sydney

Remarks in response to the Prime Minister's announcement on new Catholic School Funding arrangements

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
29 February 2004

Prime Minister, Minister Nelson, Distinguished Guests,

Your announcement today, Prime Minister, is great news for Catholic schools in Australia and for the Catholic community. It is particularly good news for parents of children in Catholic schools who make considerable sacrifices to ensure their children can have a Catholic education. On behalf of the Catholic community I thank you Prime Minister, Dr Nelson, and the Federal government for this significant increase in general recurrent funding for the Catholic school system.

We are grateful to the Government for its continuing recognition of the systems of local parish and regional secondary schools. The socio-economic funding model fits in well with the Church¡¯s concern to make education available to all Catholics and especially to families on low incomes who make up the bulk of our schools¡¯ clientele. The additional funding this package provides will help ensure access for all Catholic families.

The support of the major political parties for funding for non-government schools is something that I deeply appreciate. The primary responsibility for educating children lies with parents. Governments recognise this by supporting the right of parents to choose how their children are educated, and by recognising that parents are entitled to this support by virtue of the taxes they pay.

At the same time, the important financial contribution parents make to the funding of Catholic schools reflects the fact that we do not expect a free ride. The total fees and building levies Catholic school parents pay in NSW alone are currently more than $300 million. Catholic parents across NSW are also servicing loans on school buildings in excess of $360 million.

On this particular site at Marrickville in inner western Sydney, parents with children at Casimir College and St Brigid¡¯s in 2003 paid $1.5 million in fees, building levies and other charges. This is a real sacrifice ¨C and a great achievement.

The extra funding the Government has provided is targeted at the poorest Catholic schools. For example, in NSW, this means the 225 Catholic schools that rate lowest on externally determined socio-economic factors. It will in particular direct extra support to the small Catholic schools in rural areas that are struggling with the impact of drought, rural decline and isolation. The areas which will benefit most include the economically disadvantaged districts of south-west Sydney and the small rural towns in the Armidale, Wilcannia-Forbes, Wagga and Lismore Dioceses. The Wilcannia/Forbes Diocese, for example, covers the western one-third of NSW.

The increased funding to the Catholic systems will assist schools to provide necessary extra support for the integration of special education students into mainstream schooling and in providing for students from non-English speaking backgrounds. These are two areas where Catholic schools have been struggling to take in all the students who wish to enrol and to provide them with adequate levels of assistance.

At present in NSW, the state and commonwealth governments contribute annually $7,832 per student to government schools, and $5,506 per student to Catholic systemic schools; a difference in favour of NSW government schools of $2,326 per student.

The bulk of government funding for Catholic schools comes from the Federal government, although state governments also make a significant contribution. For government schools the opposite is the case, with the bulk of funding coming from state governments. Recognising the importance of parental choice in education means that we all need to work for the best possible government and non-government schools, all well-resourced, especially in areas which are socially and economically disadvantaged.

Catholic schools are not in competition with government schools, and the Catholic community is committed to working for an excellent education for all Australian children, whatever choices their parents make about their education.

So, thank you once again Prime Minister, and thanks especially to your Minister for Education, Dr Nelson, for this announcement today and for this enormous boost to Catholic schools and education in Australia.