Victorian private schools that charge more than $7500 a year are warning they will be forced to increase fees, cut programs or shed staff to pay millions in payroll tax from which they were previously exempt.
One top school said it could be up to $7 million a year worse off and others worried parents struggling financially would be prompted to withdraw their children.
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Jewish schools have also raised the alarm about the new tax, warning that it could put the cost of a Jewish education out of financial reach for many families.
There are eight independent Jewish schools in Melbourne, most of which charge high fees.
Australian Council of Jewish Schools executive director Leonard Hain said the tax would force schools to raise their fees by at least 4 per cent a year.
Hain said that a third of families enrolled in Jewish schools receive fee assistance and that requests for fee assistance had been rising.
“Many of our parents are already under considerable financial strain, trying to cope with escalating housing costs and cost of living pressures, and are making enormous sacrifices to provide their children with a Jewish education,” he said.
Hain predicted that any further fee rises would force some of those parents into the state school system.
Read the article by Adam Carey, Madeleine Heffernan and Rachel Eddie in The Age.