The Exclusive Brethren’s OneSchool Global network of private schools has received almost $30m in commonwealth payments for educational “disadvantage” over five years despite many being among the country’s wealthiest schools, a Guardian Australia investigation has found.
Families at OneSchool Global New South Wales have a median taxable income of $302,000 a year, while those attending the schools in Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland have a median income ranging from $172,000 to $184,000, based on information provided to Senate estimates.
For comparison, the median gross household income across Australia is $92,872.
But the Exclusive Brethren’s strict doctrine, which former members say bans most married women from paid employment and stops members from physically attending university, has had an unexpected financial benefit for the network of Brethren-aligned schools.
How the disadvantage payments work
Australian schools receive a disadvantage loading payment that is linked to the occupational and educational status of students’ parents and is calculated using the occupation, school education and highest level of post‑school education for both parents.
The socio‑educational advantage (SEA) of each student is calculated by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara) and is based on enrolment information provided by parents.
Over the past 10 years, the proportion of students at the Brethren schools who are in the bottom category of disadvantage has tripled, leading to a substantial increase in funding. They now report that about 90% of their students are in the bottom two categories.
Multiple former members of the Brethren, which is now called the Plymouth Brethren Christian church, claim its congregation is mostly not permitted to attend university, and the women do not do paid work once they are married, except in unusual circumstances. The church denies women are “forbidden” from working.
The Brethren has a history of antipathy towards higher education, with it being described by church leaders in sermons as “very dangerous”, “limiting” and contrary to the Brethren’s morals.
This means that, despite the relative wealth of the Brethren schools and their community, they meet the relevant criteria for “disadvantage”.
A spokesperson for OneSchool Global said the school did not determine the eligibility of individual students or its schools for the disadvantage loading.
“We don’t control, nor could not and would not seek to influence the reported occupations and levels of education of parents in our school community,” the spokesperson said.
“The government sets the funding model for students, and therefore we are not in a position to answer questions about why students qualify and how much they qualify for.
“Like all Australian registered schools, we adhere to the requirements of government and work within those processes to make sure our students receive their share of funding for their education.”
Financial reports lodged with the charity regulator show the OneSchool Global schools have more than $200m in net assets, combined surpluses of $26m in 2022 and current assets – including cash – of almost $85m. They are also among the country’s wealthiest schools based on per-student recurrent income.
Analysis of federal funding disclosures for private schools shows that the federal government paid OneSchool Global schools across Australia a total of $136m from 2018 to 2022, with $28.8m provided through the disadvantage loading.
Students in the bottom quartile of advantage receive up to 50% extra of the baseline funding amount as loading, and those in the second bottom quartile receive 37.5% extra payment.
This means that a student at a OneSchool Global school is receiving up to 50% more than the baseline funding amount compared with a student in a school that does not have a similar “disadvantage”, equating to as much as an extra $8,500 for each student compared with an average school.
The schools have also received an estimated additional $20m from state governments in recurrent funding.
Rising number of students considered disadvantaged
The number of students being recorded in the lowest two levels for educational disadvantage at OneSchool Global schools has been gradually growing year on year over the past decade, according to information provided to Acara.
In 2014, just 14% of OneSchool NSW’s students were ranked in the lowest category, with the majority of students in the two middle quartiles, including 30% of students in the second-highest category. This gave the school an Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (Icsea) ranking of 1,008, which placed them in the 51st percentile – just above average.
In 2023, there were only 7% of students in the second-highest category, with 46% recorded in the bottom quartile. This gives the school an Icsea score of 978 and places it in the 36th percentile.
The dramatic shift has also occurred in other states over the same period. In 2014, just 10% of Victoria’s OneSchool Global students were in the bottom quartile. This has since more than tripled to 35%, shifting the school from above average to below average. A similar shift also occurred in Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and South Australia. In WA in 2014, more than half of the school’s students were in the top two categories, dropping to just 14% last year.
This has resulted in the total amount of disadvantage loading payments being received by the school network more than doubling since 2014, growing from about $3m to more than $7m.
The disadvantage loading payment is not adjusted according to the “capacity to contribute” score of the school, which looks at the financial capacity of families to contribute to education costs and which reduces the baseline funding amount paid to each school.
However, further benefiting the OneSchool Global network, 11 of its 17 school authorities are not assessed based on the financial capacity of their members to pay, with the department instead using the average income amounts of the regions in which they are located based on census data.
This happens when there is insufficient information on parent income, or when enrolment numbers are too low to use the “direct measure of income” without risking the identity of individuals.
Schools among wealthiest in Australia
According to the ranking of Australia’s wealthiest schools based on per student recurrent income, OneSchool Global schools in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and WA rank in the top 200 of the country’s almost 10,000 schools, placing them in the top 2% of schools nationally.
In 2021, OneSchool Global NSW successfully applied to the NSW Education Standards Authority to be split into 12 separate schools. According to the school’s annual report, this was partly to enable the school to “compete against local schools who receive more beneficial funding”.
“This achievement means we are more fairly funded into the future,” the principal Mark Heaney said.
While the strict doctrine of the Plymouth Brethren Christian church has been widely reported, a spokesperson said that it was a “mainstream church” that believed in care and compassion.
He rejected claims that have been widely reported by former members that its members could not attend university and married women could not work.
“Yes, we are a bit different – every church is.
“Married women in our church are not forbidden from working.
“Yes, there are women in our church who choose to dedicate themselves to a life of marriage and children, and some who don’t. That’s no different to the rest of society.
“Our children are not prevented from attending university, with some amongst our flock choosing to study at university online.
“And yes, there are people who have left our church and who speak unfavourably about their experience – and while that is regrettable, it is hardly a unique situation for a Christian church to find itself in. Like any church, we hope that people will stay with us, but wish them well if they choose to leave.”
Do you know more? Email sarah.martin@theguardian.com
