Showing posts with label access & equity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label access & equity. Show all posts

Friday 28 July 2023

NSW Public School Education: a brief perspective from the outside looking in

 

When one considers education access and equity in New South Wales one tends to think of the divide between private and public primary & high schools.


After all the top private schools such as Knox Grammar (Wahroonga), Sydney Grammar (Darlinghurst), Barker (Hornsby), Scots (Bellevue Hill) and Pymble Ladies (Pymble) have been known to bank more money in fees, federal & state funding and donations from wealthy donors than the Gross Domestic Product of some small island states.


Knox Grammar alone brought in $536,440,456 across five years up to 2021.


However, there is another level of inequality and that is the divide between public schools based on the socio-economic status of the geographical catchment from which students are drawn and/or whether those schools are classed as selective.


While public schools do not have the same ability to set fees as private schools and do not attract the same level of government funding, they do generate levels of ‘donations’

which indicate some level of advantage vs disadvantage.


NSW public school voluntary general contributions totalled $27,908,197.31 in 2022.


The top 12 public school general contributions were received by:


Sydney Boys High School $1,038,474.50*

Balgowlah Heights Public School $489,314.15

Carlingford High School $437,230.57

North Sydney Boys High School $368,278.94*

Chatswood High School $356,701.39

Ryde Secondary College $355,300.36

James Ruse Agricultural High School $330,273.608*

Cherrybrook Technology High School $306,667.75

Killarney Heights High School $297,845.28

Sydney Girls High School $295,009.83*

Baulkham Hills High School $230,761.50*

Epping Boys High School $227,940.62

NOTE:  * denotes fully selective state school


For highest and lowest an estimated breakdown of donation share per student would $1,713.65 for Sydney Boys High School and $175.33 per student for Epping Boys High School.


Not up to private school annual budgetary standards but there is a little more towards the school curriculum and extra-curricula activities.


It’s another story elsewhere in the state…..


Based on voluntary general donations raised by parents and carers in 12 schools in the NSW Northern Rivers region:


  • Grafton High School $18,201.20

  • South Grafton High School $7,611.25

  • Grafton Public School $5,435.00

  • South Grafton Public School $465.00


  • Lismore Heights Public School $1,740.00

  • Lismore Public School $105.00

  • Lismore South Public School $30.00


  • Tweed River High School $9,203.65

  • Tweed Heads Public School $457.00

  • Tweed Heads South Public School $52.00


  • Ballina Coast High School $12,134.00


  • Murwillumbah East Public School $5,430.00


For highest and lowest on the Northern Rivers list Grafton High School parental & carer ‘donations’ would equal around $22 dollars per student and for Lismore South Public School it is 0.12 cents a student in 2022.


It should come as no surprise, given the poor state funding model and the refusal of successive federal governments to contribute meaningfully to public school funding, that none of the four Northern Rivers public high schools listed in this post had students in the Top 6 (higher score) rankings for 2022 Higher School Certificate scores. While only two of the twelve public high schools in relatively affluent geographic catchments had students within the Top 6 rankings.


Of the five rich private schools identified in the second paragraph of this post only one of those high schools had students within Top 6 rankings for 2022 Higher School Certificate scores.


Across all NSW high schools the Top 10 with the highest success rate in the Higher School Certificate appear to have all been state selective or private schools.


It seems that affluent post codes or access to fully selective government schools may still have an inordinate influence when it comes to student outcomes in the final years of schooling.

 

Tuesday 6 June 2023

"Eat The Rich" is an amusing conversational tag. But for how long?


For most Australians, income is the most important resource they have to meet their living costs. However, reserves of wealth can be drawn upon to maintain living standards in periods of reduced income or substantial unexpected expenses. Considering income and wealth together helps to better understand the economic wellbeing or vulnerability of households.”

[Australian Bureau Of Statistics, Household Income and Wealth, Australia, Reference period: 2019-20]


Given the grumbling coming from the opera boxes and dress circle seats in the Australian economy if it is suggested that those on low to middle incomes shouldn’t be solely responsible for fighting inflation by way of wage suppression, ever rising cost of living & below poverty line unemployment benefits, perhaps it’s time to remember some of the cream within the Top 1% and how richly they live in an Australian population of est. 26,510,186 men, women and children spread out across this country. [ABS, Population Clock, 4 June 2023 at 8:15am]


Forbes, Australia’s 50 Richest 2023, 15 February 2023:


NAME          NET WORTH          INDUSTRY


1. Gina Rinehart   $30.6 B         Metals & Mining

2. Andrew Forrest   $21.7 B      Metals & Mining

3. Harry Triguboff     $15.5 B    Real Estate

4. Bianca Rinehart & siblings   $12.5 B   Metals & Mining

5. Anthony Pratt   $11.6 B        Manufacturing

6. Mike Cannon-Brookes  $10.8 B Technology

7. Scott Farquhar   $10.6 B      Technology

8. Cliff Obrecht & Melanie Perkins   $7.2 B Technology

9. Frank Lowy   $6 B                 Finance & Investments

10. Richard White   $5.4 B        Technology

11. John, Alan & Bruce Wilson   $5.1 B Fashion & Retail

12. Kerry Stokes   $4.2 B          Diversified

13. John Gandel   $3.5 B          Real Estate

14. Lindsay Fox   $3.4 B           Logistics

15. Jack Cowin   $3.35 B          Food & Beverage

16. Michael Hintze   $3.2 B       Finance & Investments

17. James Packer   $2.8 B        Finance & Investments

18. Lang Walker   $2.7 B           Real Estate

19. Fiona Geminder   $2.6 B     Manufacturing

20. Brett Blundy   $2.45 B         Fashion & Retail

21. Solomon Lew   $2.3 B         Fashion & Retail

22. Bob Ell   $2.25 B                  Real Estate

23. Len Ainsworth & family   $2.2 B Gambling & Casinos

24. Heloise Pratt   $2.15 B        Manufacturing

25. Clive Palmer   $2.1 B           Metals & Mining

26. Gerry Harvey   $2.05 B        Fashion & Retail

27. Kie Chie Wong   $2 B          Metals & Mining

28. Hains family   $1.95 B         Finance & Investments

29. Cameron Adams   $1.8 B    Technology

30. Chris Wallin   $1.75 B         Energy

31. Terry Snow   $1.61 B           Real Estate

32. Bruce Mathieson   $1.6 B   Real Estate

33. Chris Ellison   $1.59 B        Metals & Mining

34. Angela Bennett   $1.55 B    Metals & Mining

35. Gretel Packer   $1.54 B       Finance & Investments

36. David Teoh   $1.53 B           Telecom

37. Nigel Austin   $1.5 B           Fashion & Retail

38. Tony & Ron Perich   $1.42 B   Real Estate

39. John Van Lieshout   $1.41 B   Real Estate

40. Anthony Hall   $1.4 B          Technology

41. Jack Gance & family   $1.35 B   Fashion & Retail

42. Mario Verrocchi & family   $1.34 B   Fashion & Retail

43. Sam Hupert $  1.3 B           Technology

44. Sam Tarascio   $1.25 B       Real Estate

45. Sam Kennard & siblings   $1.2 B  Real Estate

46. Michael Heine   $1.19 B      Finance & Investments

47. Manny Stul   $1.18 B           Manufacturing

48. Mark Creasy    $1.02 B        Metals & Mining

49. Alan Rydge    $1 B              Media & Entertainment

50. Kerr Neilson    $960 M        Finance & Investments


Globally only Monaco and Switzerland have higher individual net wealth than Australia. In this country in 2022 the Top 1% had individual wealth beginning at $5.5 million to >$30 billion, yet before it was driven from office the Morrison Coalition Government locked in an overly generous permanent tax cut for the wealthy in our society. Along with a negative gearing regime for property investment which is concentrating residential property ownership in the hands of richer individuals and families.


While the bottom wealth percentiles - including the homeless, unemployed, working age poor & elderly without assets or savings - recognising the taxation rate/negative gearing sleight-of-hand involved are left wondering how long they can manage to put a roof over their heads and food on the table now and into the foreseeable future.


IMAGE: Twitter via @MaggieDaWitch
4 June 2023



Saturday 15 April 2023

Quote of the Week

 

A new paper from the Australia Institute shows 93% of the benefits of economic growth between 2009 and 2019 went to the top 10%, while the bottom 90% received just 7%. The paper shows the share of economic growth going to the top 10% over that period was far higher in Australia than in other developed countries, including the US and Canada.”

[Political reporter Amy Remeikis, writing in The Guardian, 11 April 2023]


Wednesday 15 February 2023

NSW State of Play 2023: governments being 'city-centric' has consequences that follow remote & outer regional populations to their graves

 

The Australia Institute, media release, 14 February 2023:


New analysis reveals residents born in Far West NSW are suffering substantially worse health outcomes than residents in Sydney.


People in Far West NSW are dying earlier than they should, from avoidable causes, and while suicide rates have steadied in Sydney, they are on the rise in the most remote parts of the state.


The report warns of serious and growing inequality in health outcomes between city and country residents and recommends immediate investment in the sector.


Key points:


  • Life expectancy: People born in the Far West have a life expectancy 5.7 years less than those in Sydney, with the divide worsening


  • Premature death: Residents in Far Western NSW are 2x more likely to die prematurely than those in Sydney


  • Avoidable death: ‘Potentially avoidable deaths’ are 2.5x more likely in the Far West than in Sydney


  • Suicide: Residents in the NSW Far West are 2x as likely to commit suicide than those in Sydney, with a clear upwards trend in suicide rates


Far West NSW is in serious need of medical attention. Where you live shouldn’t dictate how long you’ll live, but unfortunately in NSW it does” said Kate McBride, Researcher at The Australia Institute.


Those in the Far West have significantly poorer health outcomes, inferior access to health services and face substantial financial challenges to access services.


Life expectancy, premature deaths, and ‘potentially avoidable’ deaths are key statistical indicators of whether our health system is working. It is clear from the analysis in this report, sirens should be sounding from the Far West of the state.


There’s a compelling case for significant investment across the continuum of care, from disease prevention to rehabilitation and ongoing care, in regional NSW.


The first release in a series, this report reflects a wider national trend: That the health system is failing those living in regional and remote Australia” said Kate McBride.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


RELATED RESEARCH

Kate McBride, The Unlucky Country: Life expectancy and health in regional and remote Australia. Part 1: NSW, February 2023.

FULL REPORT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Excerpts from the McBride report:


Australia has the world’s third highest life expectancy at 84.3 years. However, this national average masks the fact that the ‘lucky country’ has some rather less lucky residents. In every state and territory, those in regional and remote areas have life expectancies several years lower than in the city.


New South Wales (NSW) is a stark example of this divide. Life expectancy in Far West NSW is 79.1 years compared to 84.5 years in Sydney. This more than five-year gap has grown from relative parity at the turn of the millennium to the current gap. Today, a person in far west NSW is more than twice as likely to die prematurely (under 75) than someone in Sydney.


While there are many possible reasons for this discrepancy, overall, people die of the same causes in urban and remote parts of NSW; a comparison of the top causes of death in each area reveals that the top 10 are almost identical. However, regional and remote people are dying younger and from preventable causes at much higher rates than those in Sydney. Deaths considered ‘potentially avoidable’ are more than two and a half times as common in the far west than in the state’s capital.


It has been known for years that there is a suicide issue in regional Australia. Suicide rates in far west NSW—already more than twice as high than those in Sydney—are continuing to rise, while those in urban areas remain steady. But while suicide is a significant problem, it is only the tenth leading cause of death in the region. Suicide tends to take people at a younger age than other causes and as a result can disproportionally skew life expectancy, having said this there are other factors likely at play.


In 2022, a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into health outcomes and access to services in rural, regional, and remote NSW found that people outside urban areas had significantly poorer health outcomes, inferior access to health services, and faced substantial financial challenges to access services.


This divide between life expectancy in the cities and in the country is a problem that extends beyond far western NSW. The city/country divide exists across Australia, and it is growing. Inequity between Australians living in capitals and remote areas is a significant problem that demands government intervention, particularly concerning overwhelmed and under resourced health systems.”








































NOTE: I draw to the attention of "North Coast Voices" readers, living in what is the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Coffs Harbour-Grafton Level 4 Statistical Area, the fact that the combined populations of Clarence Valley and Coffs Harbour City have a projected life expectancy at birth which is 3.9 years lower than that of the population of the Greater Sydney metropolitan area. Only the projected life expectancy at birth for the Far West and Orana region has a worse comparative figure.

























The only differences are dehydration and suicide (more below) in the Far West being replaced by heart failure and breast cancer in Greater Sydney. The similarity in causes of death suggests that the factors driving lower life expectancy in the far west are not due to different physical conditions or different lifestyles, but to how causes of death are prevented and managed. [my yellow highlighting]





















Sadly, what the preceding paragraph is politely hinting at is that there is a culture within governments which tolerates and, perhaps even relies upon, inequality of access to health care along with an acceptance of delivery of poorer quality health care to those living in remote areas of New South Wales, as one of the tools which allows the provision of a much higher quality of health care to those living in metropolitan centres and inner regional areas on the fringes of major cities. 


That is where the bulk of the state's electorates and voter numbers are concentrated and, it will come as no surprise that ahead of the March 2023 state election little electoral growth was expected in the western half of New South Wales [Report of the Electoral Districts Redistribution Panel on the draft determination of the names and boundaries of electoral districts of New South Wales, 9 Nov 2020].


Saturday 10 September 2022

Quotes of the Week

 

Lend Lease, Stocks and Holdings, Parkes Development and L.J. Hooker all bought land in the Gosford and Penrith areas soon after publication of the Outline Plan. (Sunday Australian 5 March 1972) The inability of local and state government services to keep pace with the rate of subdivision by these developers was contributing, according to the Sunday Australian (5 March 1972) to the escalating price of blocks. In 1970 the average price of vacant land in Sydney was $7,240 per acre, in 1971 $8,969, and by 1972 had risen to $11,802 an acre. (Financial Review 28 July 1972). The beneficiaries of rising land prices are clear enough. According to the present Federal Minister for Urban and Regional Development (Mr T. Uren, MHR) the poor in general and young couples in particular are the ones who suffer.”

[Leonie Sandercock, (1974) PROPERTY, POLITICS AND POWER : A HISTORY OF CITY PLANNING IN ADELAIDE, MELBOURNE AND SYDNEY SINCE 1900]


To Juanita, there was an urgent need for answers to the problem of rehousing old and low-income people in their own neighbourhoods. This was already occurring in Darlinghurst and it was time it was also taken into account by planners in Kings Cross. Juanita’s reaction to Paul Strasser’s projected Parkes Developments’ proposal marked the beginning of the end of her ‘soft’ editorial policy. She was outraged when Parkes offered to buy her home for what was an extraordinary amount of money for a small terrace in 1973—$200 000. She refused, and she recounted later to the Sydney Morning Herald that she had come under ‘all sorts of unimaginable pressures’. ‘I began to realise that if I was getting into so much trouble—owning my own house and a newspaper—what hope would a pensioner have?’ But the experience was a catalyst for her to also embrace a more formal presence in the Victoria Street power plays. She formed the Victoria Street Ratepayers’ Association and became its secretary. Through this tactic she was able to stall Parkes’ twenty-eight-storey development, as well as gaining another lever against overdevelopment on the west side. With this delay, the Parkes’ plan would ultimately lapse.

[Peter Rees, (2004) KILLING JUANITA, p.78]


REASONS FOR DECISION

1 The appellant (“Hometown”) owns and operates a residential land lease community in Lennox Head, New South Wales (“Community”). The Community is governed by the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act, 2013 (NSW) (“Act”).

2 On or about 4 November 2020, Hometown acquired the home located at site 4 of the Community from a former home owner for a purchase price of $207,500. It refurbished the home and marketed it for sale.

3 On 5 March 2021, Ms Bullivant entered into a sale agreement to purchase the home at site 4 from Hometown for a purchase price of $260,000.

4 On 6 March 2021, Ms Bullivant entered into a site agreement (within the meaning of the Act) with Hometown in respect of the home at site 4 in which she agreed to pay $192 per week.

5 By application filed 28 July 2021, Ms Bullivant sought orders from the Tribunal pursuant to section 157(1) of the Act asserting, in summary, that Hometown, as operator comply with its obligation to set fees for the site at fair market value and compensation for the difference between fair market value and the site fees charged by Hometown under the site agreement since its inception.

The Decision of the Tribunal

6 In its decision of 21 December 2021, the Tribunal found, in summary, that Part 10 of the Act and, in particular, s 109 applied to the sale of the home at site 4 to Ms Bullivant and that the site fees charged by Hometown exceeded fair market value. The Tribunal held that fair market value of site fees for site 4 was $164.40 and ordered a reduction of the site fees under the site agreement to that amount (subject to the term of the site agreement providing for a 4% annual increase in site fees). The primary member found that section 109(6) applied to the site agreement entered into between Hometown and Ms Bullivant and made orders for the reduction of Ms Bullivant’s site fees

[Civil and Administrative Tribunal, New South Wales, Hometown Australia Lennox Pty Limited v Debra Bullivant [2022] NSWCATAP 161 (17 May 2022)]


Monday 11 April 2022

Top 10 Wealthy Federal Electorate and Bottom 10 Electorates - a very brief glimpse at the Australian experience of inequality

 

TOP 10 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ELECTORATES RANKED BY ORDER OF WEALTH IN 2020*



Wentworth (NSW) – Liberal – Dave Sharna since 2019 (general election) – No 1 electorate


Warringah (NSW) – Independent – Zali Steggall since 2019 (general election) – No 2 electorate


Bradfield (NSW)Liberal Paul Fletcher since 2009 (by-election) – No 3 electorate


North Sydney (NSW) – Liberal – Trent Zimmerman since 2015 (by-election) – No 4 electorate


Mackellar (NSW) – Liberal – Jason Falinski since 2016 (general election) – No 5


Cook (NSW) – LiberalScott Morrison since 2007 (general election) – No 6


Goldstein (Vic) – Liberal – Tim Wilson since 2016 (general election) – No 7


Higgins (Vic) – Liberal Katie Allen since 2019 (general election) – No 8


Curtin (WA) – Liberal Celia Hammond since 2019 (general election) – No 9


Kooyong (Vic) – Liberal Josh Frydenberg since 2019 (general election) – No 10.


Four Liberal electorates in this group contain sitting members in the office of Prime Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts and, Assistant Minister to the Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction.


Within this group of wealthy electorates only est. 6.48% of all households were living below the poverty line. 


It should come as no surprise that in 10 electorates with the lowest wealth rankings:


5 were Labor electorates Spence (SA), Brand (WA), Burt (WA), Blair (Qld), Chifley (NSW); and


5 were LNP/Nationals electorates – Herbert (Qld), Flynn (Qld), Forde (Qld), Longman (Qld), Capricornia (Qld).


Across these five Labor electorates est.13.38% of all households were living below the poverty line**, while across the other five LNP/Nationals electorates est.12.18% of all households were living below the poverty line.


The two NSW Northern Rivers federal electorates ranked 25th (Richmond –  Labor since 2004) and 112th (Page – Nationals since 2013 general election) for average wealth per capita. With Richmond having 14% of all households living below the poverty line and Page having 16.4% of households.


NOTE: 

* Order of wealth is calculated by average per capita wealth in an electorate as set out in Roy Morgan Wealth Report, 1 May 2020.

** RMIT ABC Fact Check, "Federal electorates ranked by percentage of households below the poverty line", 24 October 2019.


Wednesday 14 July 2021

Pathetically low fines for non-compliance with rules enforced by the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) leaves Murray-Darling Basin irrigators in NSW laughing all the way to the bank with those dollars earned from what is essentially water theft

 

https://www.mdba.gov.au/importance-murray-darling-basin/where-basin

The State of New South Wales is currently not in drought. However, its rivers often have highly variable water flows so it was not surprising to find the morning of Tuesday 13 July 2021 revealing that WaterNSW State Overview real time data record showed that 14 of the state's rivers were flowing at less than 20%. While 15 of the state's principal dams registered volume levels at between 31.4% and 95.9% of capacity, with another 3 registering over 100% of recommended capacity.


Some of those rivers and dams fall within Murray Darling Basin boundaries.


Apparently - even in time of relative water plenty - healthy rivers, environmental water flows and intergenerational equity are not part of the business plan for many of the irrigators growing cotton, almonds, rice, fruit, vegetables, grape vines and other food & pasture crops - how else does one explain this?


The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 July 2021:


Nearly half of the biggest irrigators in NSW have made no effort to install meters that comply with new water laws more than six months after they became mandatory, an audit has found.


The NSW Natural Resources Access Regulator found that 45 per cent of large pumps that draw from rivers and creeks were not using compliant meters to measure how much water was taken, contrary to new laws designed to prevent water theft.


Only 23 per cent were fully compliant with a further third on their way to compliance based on evidence provided by way of invoices, product orders and emails confirming validation appointments.


NRAR’s chief regulatory officer Grant Barnes said there had been “a positive shift” in compliance rates since its desktop audit in April, which found two-thirds of irrigators were non-compliant, but there was still more work to be done with those water users who had neither installed the meters nor made an effort to do so.


For us, this is about ensuring those water users who have done the right thing and have complied with the regulations get a fair go, and so these results will be disappointing to those people,” Mr Barnes said. “[Compliance] is also important to those who recognise the importance of a social licence for irrigators.”


Individuals who have shown no effort to comply face fines of up to $750 and irrigation companies face $1500 fines.


The pumps in question here are gigantic, half-meter diameter straws that have the capacity to suck the lifeblood out of our rivers.”

Independent MP Justin Field


The meters were a central recommendation from the 2017 Murray Darling Basin Compliance Review, which found irrigator compliance in NSW and Queensland was “bedevilled by patchy metering, the challenges of measuring unmetered take and the lack of real-time, accurate water accounts”…...


Read the full article here.