Holy Trinity School in Inverell is estimated to receive more than $11 million from the federal government's $18.6 billion budget allocation for needs-based funding over the next 10 years. It is the largest estimated allocation of all the schools in the district.
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Over the next decade, funding per student at Holy Trinity will increase to more than $16,000, according to the government's school funding estimator.
In his budget speech, Treasurer Scott Morrison said the allocation would deliver "a fairer and simpler way to meet our shared commitment to educate each and every child” according to a needs-based standard.
But not everyone is happy with the outcome.
Both the Catholic sector and the state Parents and Citizens Federation have trashed the government’s plan for primary and high school funding.
According to estimates, all schools in the Inverell district are slated for a funding increase over the next decade, but the Armidale Diocese has dismissed the estimator as inaccurate.
In a statement released on Tuesday, director Chris Smyth said systems for setting school fees in the Diocese would not change.
"We are concerned that the federal government is launching a new website that will list the Commonwealth funding provided to each school in Australia," he said.
Mr Smyth criticised the estimator, describing it as “likely to promote uninformed analysis” regarding how catholic schools were funded. Both the state and national Catholic Education Commissions have refused to support the government’s plan.
The state P&C Federation have also slammed the government’s budget plans, “dismayed” that the previous Gonski model, which the NSW government signed in 2013, would be taken back. President Susie Boyd dismissed the plan for a “Gonski 2.0”.
“If the 2013 agreement can be so easily rescinded by the Commonwealth, why should we trust them to honour any new agreement?" she said.
Universities face cuts under new budget
University students are in the budget firing line as the government moves to amp up fees and call in study loans sooner.
Students face repaying loans once they start earning more than $42,000 a year, while degree prices are estimated to increase by up to $3600 under the new model.
Universities will also be hit by a 2.5 percent efficiency dividend over two years, estimated at $2.9 billion.
Kyle Chilcott has been studying a Bachelor of Business by distance. He said the lower repayment threshold for student loans represented a middle-ground salary.
“For most uni students, it is probably (their) first or second year out when they will have to start paying it back,”
- Kyle Chilcott.
But Mr Chilcott agreed that, for many students, there were more immediate cost concerns.
Last week, Inverell High School careers advisor Peter Dal Santo said, in his experience, students were typically more concerned with living expenses than student loans.
"I'd have the same thought," Mr Chilcott said. "It is sort of an afterthought until you become older and have to start paying it back."
The budget is expected to pass through the Senate with the support of Labor and the Greens, largely because of the government’s plan to hit Australia’s big four banks with a multi-billion-dollar levy.
Both Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen and Greens leader Richard Di Natale have expressed sentiments that they would not stand in the way of the levy, but were concerned banks would pass the costs on to clients.