Australian media reporting this week on funding for New South Wales schools does not accurately reflect the actual full funding for the Norfolk Island Central School (NICS).
The published figure of NICS having a gross income of $435,000 in the three calendar years to 2017 does not include any of the significant funding from the Australian Government in 2016-17 or 2017-18. It is based solely on MySchool data which only includes state government reported finance data and not the additional funding provided by the Commonwealth to the Norfolk Island school.
Since 1 July 2016, funding provided by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development through the NSW Department of Education for provision of education services at NICS has been:
- $5.113 million in 2016-17
- $5.956 million in 2017-18
- $7.129 million in 2018-19.
In addition to this, the Australian Government also provides direct funding to NICS for capital upgrades and the provision of non-teaching ancillary staff.
Since 2016, the school has received more than $3.5 million in capital upgrades, including upgrades to school buildings, new classroom furniture, improved water quality, replacement of the ICT infrastructure and upgrades to the plumbing and electrical systems, along with a new satellite dish.
The Department provided more than $635,000 for ancillary staff in 2018-19.
The Norfolk Island school and broader community should be assured the NICS is – and will continue to be – appropriately funded and supported.
Eric Hutchinson
Administrator of Norfolk Island
October 2019