Five private schools spent as much on new facilities in one year as 3,000 Australian public schools

The Australian Education Union has released a report saying capital spending per student in private schools in the decade to 2021 was more than double what was spent on public schools. Photograph: Fairfax Media/Getty Images

Five elite private schools spent about the same amount of money on new facilities in 2021 as governments gave to more than half of Australia’s public schools for building works, new research has found.

A report released by the Australian Education Union (AEU) on Friday found the average annual capital spending per student in private schools in the decade to 2021 was more than double what was spent on public schools, equating to a $31.8bn divide.