The Sydney Morning Herald
· collected 2026-10-06 · by Christopher Harris, Craig Butt
The article reports that four Sydney private schools—Wenona, Queenwood, SCEGGS, and Mosman Church of England Preparatory School—now have a median annual household income exceeding $500,000 for their parents. Additionally, it notes significant increases in parent incomes at other high-fee schools like Cranbrook, where the median income rose by 9% annually to $485,000 over two years. The article highlights concerns raised by Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne about wealthy private schools receiving substantial taxpayer funding while public schools remain underfunded and face rising out-of-pocket costs for parents and teachers.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In Sydney, four private schools — Wenona, Queenwood, SCEGGS, and Mosman Church of England Preparatory School — reported that the median annual household income for their families exceeded $500,000 in 2023. This figure comes from tax office records used by the government to allocate funding based on parental income since 2022 under its Direct Measure of Income method. At Cranbrook, the median parent income rose by 9% annually, reaching $485,000 in two years, outpacing recent fee increases which now stand at $52,000 for Year 12 fees. Across 14 schools, median incomes increased by $50,000 or more between 2023 and 2025, indicating a trend of rising parental wealth in high-end private education sectors. However, income levels vary widely among different schools; for instance, King’s School has a median parent income of $260,000, while Pymble Ladies' College reported $235,000 and Trinity had $265,000. This highlights the significant disparity in parental income across Sydney's private schools.
Written for “Sydney School Income Levels” on 2026-10-06,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.65, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 2 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 59637: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-06
Parents at four Sydney private schools now have a median annual household income exceeding half a million dollars.
asserted
Parents → have → dollars
Four schools – Wenona, Queenwood, SCEGGS and Mosman Church of England Preparatory School – were the first to join the $500,000 club last year after parents’ median family pay packets crossed that income threshold, tax office records show.
asserted
records → join → threshold
At Cranbrook, the median parent income for that school jumped by $83,000 in two years, or 9 per cent annually, to $485,000, outpacing recent fee increases.
asserted
income → jump → increases
Year 12 fees now stand at $52,000.
asserted
fees → stand → 52,000
Across 14 schools, median parent income jumped by $50,000 or more between 2023 and 2025, including at Shore, Monte Sant’ Angelo and St Catherine’s.
asserted
income → jump → Shore
Other schools where parent income surged included St Vincent’s, St Ignatius and Stella Maris colleges.
asserted
income → surge → Vincent
While some high-fee schools have total incomes of half a million dollars, some others are much lower.
asserted
others → have → dollars
The government started collecting data on parent salaries using tax office data under its Direct Measure of Income method to distribute funding in 2022.
asserted
government → start → 2022
It ranks schools based on parents’ income to determine how much government funding flows to each school.
asserted
funding → rank → school
Independent Schools Australia chief executive Graham Catt said the education funding model was based on the principle of needs-based support for every student.
asserted
model → say → student
“It is more accurate to think of funding for students, not institutions.
asserted
It → think → students
Governments spend, on average, about $26,140 per student in government schools and $13,550 per student in independent schools,” he said.
asserted
he → spend → schools
“Students at the highest capacity-to-contribute independent schools attract considerably less again, and the parent-income data you are examining is already built into the funding.”
asserted
you → contribute → funding
The data was obtained in the federal parliament by Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne, who said private schools were heaping above-inflation fee hikes on parents while also receiving taxpayer funding.
asserted
schools → obtain → funding
“It doesn’t pass the pub test that the richest schools in the state, attended by kids of the wealthiest families, plunder billions every year from the public purse while every single public school in NSW remains underfunded,” she said.
asserted
she → pass → NSW
“The private school lobby claims they’re relieving pressure on the public school system but that’s a false economy.
uncertain
that → claim → system
“Public schools are so underfunded that out-of-pocket costs are soaring and teachers are dipping into their own pockets to pay for classroom supplies.
asserted
teachers → soar → supplies
Meanwhile, private schools heap above-inflation fee increases on parents.
asserted
schools → heap → parents
“Our funding model is failing our kids.
asserted
model → fail → kids
Australia has one of the most segregated and privatised school systems in the OECD.
asserted
Australia → have → OECD
Instead of giving every kid the chance to thrive, we’re entrenching privilege and worsening inequality.”
asserted
we → give → inequality
Education Minister Jason Clare said recent funding agreements would result in $20 billion flowing into public schools in coming decade under the needs-based Gonski funding model.
asserted
billion → say → model
“It fixes the funding of our public schools,” he said.
asserted
he → fix → schools
“We’re the first government to ever do this.
asserted
We → ’re → this
It’s based on need.
asserted
It → base → need
“Schools with parents on higher incomes get less funding, and vice versa.
asserted
Schools → get → funding
Schools with parents on lower incomes get more funding.”
asserted
Schools → get → funding
The Aporia
