WA private schools spend big on new builds, but public schools are left behind

Five West Australian private schools are spending more on capital works than thousands of public schools nationally, a new report has revealed, with one high-fee school topping the list.

The latest figures were revealed in a new report from the Australian Education Union – The Building Divide in Australian Schools: How capital funding fuels educational inequity.

The union said the amount private schools are spending on infrastructure shows inequity between the school systems is growing, and governments should be funding capital works in public schools at greater rates to bridge the gap.

The top five highest-spending private schools in WA spent nearly $90.5 million on capital works in 2023, the report revealed.

And the top 10 highest-spending private schools spent above $146 million – more than 44.6 per cent of all public schools in Western Australia.

One school alone spent nearly $23 million, more than 214 of the state’s public schools with student cohorts from the lowest quartile of socio-educational advantage.

But Hale School was quick to point out it receives no government funding for capital works

“The student funding received is significantly less than for public schools and continues to decrease year-on-year,” a spokesperson said.

Overall, private schools in WA outspent public schools on capital works by $3.2 billion over the past decade, including $515 million in 2023.

The divide in facilities is being felt by teachers in WA’s public sector.

One principal at high school in the Perth metropolitan area said, “non-existent outdoor playing facilities means no physical activity-based courses and no recreation-based health and wellbeing opportunities outside”.

“Inadequate power available to site has meant the closure of the canteen,” they said.

A deputy principal at a remote primary school said whole blocks were impacted by mould and mice in “epic proportions.”

State School Teachers’ Union of WA president Matt Jarman said this exposed a widening infrastructure divide driven by the absence of ongoing Commonwealth capital funding for public schools since 2017.

He said the funding imbalance was having real consequences in WA classrooms.

He added that while Hale School can allocate amounts greater than its entire government recurrent funding to capital works, public schools don’t have the same luxury.

“Western Australian public schools are educating the overwhelming majority of children, yet they are doing so without the benefit of a guaranteed Commonwealth capital funding stream,” Jarman said.

“When private schools are receiving more than three-times the per-student capital investment of some public schools, it entrenches inequality across our communities.

“Western Australia needs long-term, predictable capital funding from the Commonwealth so public schools can plan, build and deliver the modern learning environments our students deserve.”

Jarman said the union was not calling for an end to private school funding, just a more equitable system.

He said while public schools had access to the state government’s $200 million High Priority Maintenance and Minor Works program, the federal government could help “superpower” that funding to include more schools and projects.

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