CECG Executive Director David de Carvalho says Catholic schools remain very affordable. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
Education costs rising above the general inflation rate are behind an up to 10 per cent increase in fees for 2026 across Catholic schools in the Canberra and Goulburn Diocese.
Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn says tuition fees for Catholic primary schools in the ACT will increase by between 5.3 per cent and 10 per cent, while the annual family maintenance levy will rise by $350 to $650.
That levy will level off next year at $1000.
Across the five Catholic ACT secondary colleges, the fee increases will range between 3.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent.
In NSW, the fee rises will be limited to 5 per cent.
CECG Executive Director David de Carvalho said the different increases were the result of a three-year program to charge uniform fees across all primary schools.
“We’ve been on a journey over the last few years to try and get all our primary schools to the same fee levels, and so they’ve got slightly different starting points,” Mr de Carvalho said.
“So some schools have a lower starting point; they’re the ones that are experiencing a 10 per cent fee increase.”
The secondary colleges had previously set their own fees, but this was the first year CECG decided these, taking into account past fee increases and the colleges’ different circumstances.
Mr de Carvalho said the costs driving the fee changes included travel and excursion insurance, ICT, books and stationery.
He said teacher salaries, which rose last year by 3 to 3.5 per cent, were an ongoing cost that contributed to the fee increases.
Catholic schools face growing demand. Photo: CECG.
Despite cost-of-living issues, the ACT education market was very competitive, so Catholic schools, especially the colleges, had to maintain an attractive offering.
“These are all expensive things to provide in terms of performing arts and music programs and excursions,” Mr de Carvalho said.
“The latest technology is something that we want to be able to provide in the most affordable way.”
But Mr de Carvalho said CECG primary schools remained good value for money, at $3325 per child or $10 a day over the year for two children, after the sibling discount.
He said the sibling discounts of 50 per cent for the second child, 70 per cent for the third child, and 80 per cent for the fourth child also helped families.
“We think that that’s very affordable, but we do know that it will also be a challenge for some families, which is why we encourage those families who want a Catholic education but feel they can’t afford it to speak to their principal to see what we can do,” he said.
Mr de Carvalho said CECG was looking at ways to contain costs, such as using its purchasing power across the 56 schools to generate procurement savings.
“We have to look at efficiencies and the improved use of technology, and how we can leverage the nature of our system more effectively, he said.
Mr de Carvalho said CECG was looking at how it set fees across both Canberra and NSW schools in the longer term, as the prospect of reduced government funding also loomed.
“This is something that we’ll be speaking with both governments [state/territory and federal] about as to how we can ensure that government funding is at a level that allows us to keep our schools affordable,” he said.
Mr de Carvalho said demand for a Catholic education was growing, fuelled by pedagogical changes through the Catalyst program, the classroom discipline approach, and the pastoral care on offer.
To cater for that expected demand, CECG had begun a planning project to assess demographic changes and the resources it will need, including the construction and upgrading of schools.
“The board has a lot of important decisions to make over the next six months or so about where we invest our capital capability,” he said.
CECG had 15,000 students enrolled in the ACT, the most it has ever had.
“We’re seeing similar growth in our NSW schools as well, which is very encouraging and does make the issue of how we cater for that increased demand a very large question for us,” Mr de Carvalho said.
