Many elite schools overpaid

ELITE private colleges and Catholic schools are being overpaid $20m a year in taxpayer funds, an audit reveals.

The Australian National Audit Office has warned the federal government cannot guarantee it is handing $24bn a year in taxpayer funding to schools that need it most.

“The Department of Education does not analyse school funding allocation data to ensure that funding is distributed in accordance with need,’’ the audit report, tabled in federal parliament, says.

The audit also reveals a failure to ensure extra taxpayer spending improves the quality of learning.

“There are limitations in the department’s ability to measure the impact of school funding on educational outcomes,’’ it says.

The ANAO survey of 168 schools found “payment errors’’ in 53 schools, totalling $1.1m in 2019. Based on the sample, it estimated private schools across Australia were overpaid $20m.

The government will pour a record $24.4bn into schools in 2021-22. Private schools, charging parents up to $30,000 a year in tuition fees, will receive $14.7bn of that sum. Public schools get most of their cash from state and territory governments. The Department of Education told the ANAO auditors that it is “considering options for detailing’’ how much money is paid to schools or groups of schools. Australian Education Union president Correna Haythorpe said the audit raised “serious concerns’’ about government oversight of school funding.