The $15M gap between a private and state school in Ballarat

Boasting a grand arts centre, indoor swimming pool and modern sporting facilities, Ballarat’s most expensive private school spent $15.2 million more on capital investment in a 10-year period than the city’s largest public school. 

From 2014 to 2023, Ballarat Grammar on average spent $1.5 million more per year than Phoenix P-12 Community College, a school with more than double the Australian average of students from the bottom quartile for socio-educational advantage, according to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. 

Ballarat Grammar, which runs from prep to year 12, costs between $9,380 and $27,600 per year for a day student and between $32,660 and $52,880 for a boarder, and has an enrolment of about 2,000 students. 

Phoenix P-12 Community College runs from prep to year 12, and has an enrolment of about 1,500 students.

Across the 2014 to 2023 period, Ballarat Grammar on average spent around $429 more per student each year than Phoenix P-12 Community College. 

A recent report from the Australian Education Union has revealed the disparity is replicated statewide.

The AEU found Victorian private schools’ capital expenditure was over $10.8 billion more than the investment received by public schools between 2014 and 2023. 

• Capital expenditure by private schools outspent investment in public schools by $1.4 billion in 2023 alone. 

• Capital expenditure per student in 2023 in private schools was more than double that of public schools ($4,421 per student compared to $2,197 per student).

Calls for clearer support: President of the Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals, Belinda Hudak, said West Victorian schools are concerned over plans for government investment. 

• “The challenge for a lot of our schools is that there's no significant plan for upgrading infrastructure and facilities,” she told the West Vic Brolga. 

• “So schools are looking at spending money to maintain buildings, not knowing whether they're then going to be replaced at any point.” 

President of the Victorian Principals Association, Andrew Dalgleish, told the West Vic Brolga  principals would “love to see … someone provided to give additional support at the school level, allowing the principal to be able to focus on their core business of teaching, learning, wellbeing and community connection”. 

Regional requirements: To boost regional public schools, CEO of the Country Education Partnership, Mark McLay, said the state government should better “acknowledge the additional costs of rural and remote schools”. 

• “More use of local trades people and local businesses would certainly improve things and cut down some of the administration costs,” he said. 

CEO of Parents Victoria, Gail McHardy said “regional students deserve the same standard of facilities and support as any child in Victoria”. 

•  She added: “Closing the infrastructure and funding gap isn’t optional — it’s essential for fairness, opportunity and the future of our regional and rural communities.”

Minister for Education, Deputy Premier Ben Carroll, was unavailable for interview, but a Victorian Government spokesperson said in a statement: "Our priority is – and has always been – that every child, no matter where they live, has access to a world-class education for free in a Victorian public school backed by full and fair funding."

In its 2026-27 information booklet for Phoenix P-12 Community College, principal Karen Snibson said the school’s “state-of-the-art facilities”, which include a 250-seat theatre, purpose-built science centre and “industry-standard” trade and technology centre, “provide dynamic environments where learning comes to life”.

In a message on the Ballarat Grammar website, principal Adam Heath said: “Our students understand that success is defined only by their aspiration; that their life’s achievement will ultimately be determined by their preparedness to live meaningfully, to work hard to create opportunities and to be active in citizenship, in pursuit of a just, healthy and positive society.”

You can read more about how schools are funded here.