Brisbane school charged parents $1370 more than published fee. How did your school fare?

2 hours ago 5

Brisbane’s All Hallows’ School charged parents $1370 more than its publicly listed fee schedule in 2025 after mistakenly omitting several compulsory levies.

The 2025 schedule for the Catholic girls’ school, which teaches years 5 to 12, said a final-year student would pay $20,035 in compulsory fees and levies.

In 2026, the school’s total costs for a year 12 student came to $23,485 – appearing to jump 17.2 per cent in one year.

Brisbane’s All Hallows’ School says it is facing rising maintenance costs, particularly for its heritage-listed buildings.

However, the school told Brisbane Times that several compulsory levies that had been in place since 2015 were accidentally omitted from the 2025 schedule.

The actual rise in total costs was about 12 per cent in 2025, and 9.7 per cent in 2026.

Across all Brisbane private schools, total costs rose by an average of almost 7 per cent from 2025 to 2026. This equated to about $1169, on average, although the four largest increases exceeded $2000.

All Hallows’ – which remains $10,000 cheaper than the city’s most expensive girls’ school, Brisbane Girls Grammar – issued a letter from principal Catherine O’Kane to parents in late 2025 explaining the costs.

“The Brisbane education CPI [consumer price index] has continued to increase at a rate that exceeds the CPI, reflecting higher local cost pressures,” O’Kane wrote in the letter, seen by Brisbane Times.

She pointed to adjustments in federal funding for private schools through the Schooling Resource Standard, which the school said would see its federal funding halved by 2029.

The latest school funding data from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority showed All Hallows’ received just over $10.5 million from the federal government in 2024, while 71 per cent of its revenue came from fees, charges, and parent contributions.

“Additionally, we continue to manage the decrease in income from rental tenancies … together with rising maintenance costs, particularly for our many heritage-listed properties, coupled with
high costs for capital projects, which are necessary for ensuring ongoing improvements to our campus,” O’Kane said.

She added that the school board was investigating “all possible measures to minimise tuition fee increases”.

All Hallows’ told Brisbane Times current families had been emailed the 2025 costs directly, so would have paid the correct amount.

However, the published fee schedule had not been updated for prospective parents, some of whom begin saving years before their child starts primary school.

The total fees at Brisbane’s three most expensive private schools for year 12 – all independent boys’ schools – exceeded $35,000 this year, two for the first time.

Since 2024, the three schools that increased fees the most were all Catholic girls’ schools.

St Rita’s College increased its total fees for year 12 students by 23.8 per cent over the two-year period, followed by All Hallows’ School (22.9 per cent), and Mt St Michael’s College (22 per cent).

The most expensive Catholic school in Brisbane remains Stuartholme, which will charge $28,010 for year 12 students this year.

At All Hallows’, O’Kane said funds went towards the teaching and student support staff, extracurricular activities, and campus facilities, including maintaining heritage buildings and developing the school’s master plan.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.