Private school means testing

THE Turnbull government will consider using the tax returns of parents to determine how much they can afford to pay to send their kids to Catholic and private schools.

The massive shake-up, which could be revealed as early as June, is expected to help neutralise the political war waged by the Catholic school sector against the government.

It could also pave the way for the government to offer extra money to independent schools but it is unlikely to be near the $250 million extra over two years offered to Catholic schools by Bill Shorten if he wins the next election.

The government has already gifted Catholic schools an eye-watering $3.9 billion extra over the next decade – an extra 3.7 per cent for each child a year.

The government provides the money to state Catholic commissions, which distributes the cash to their schools as they see fit.

NewsCorp understands the government’s new National School Resourcing Board is investigating changing its current method by using tax returns of parents.

It would likely be on a school by school basis, meaning the system would be a more accurate determiner of what parents can afford.

It is believed the government will consider what the board recommends.

The government asked the independent board to review the data that informs current federal funding arrangements.

Currently, a socio-economic status (SES) score uses the smallest unit of Census data (about 400 people) relating to education, occupation, household income and income of families with children.

That information, linked to student residential address data, determines how much money the Department of Education believes parents should contribute and how much federal taxpayers should.

The Catholic sector argues some poorer parents are not captured by the local SES score because some live out of the local area.

However, the sector is also under fire for bankrolling some of their prestigious schools at the expense of others.

But it hasn’t stopped Catholic education dioceses from launching a highly-politically charged and misleading campaign against the government.

It has accused the government of cutting funding.

Its argument is based on unfunded promises made by former prime minister Julia Gillard in 2012.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham would not be drawn into what the board may recommend.

“I am not going to pre-empt or speculate on what their recommendations may be,” he said.