Fee Overview

Catholic schools are typically seen as providing high-quality education supported by quality facilities and learning environments. It is the policy of the Catholic Schools Office that financial hardship should not prevent any child from attending a Catholic school and no child will be denied a Catholic education because of a family’s genuine inability to pay the required school fees. Any family experiencing financial difficulties is entitled to fee assistance; your local school principal will be able to discuss this with you.

Together with parents, clergy and school staff, St Francis Xavier’s is committed to offering the children in the East Lakes area access to schools in which their faith can be nurtured in outstanding learning environments. We seek to assist young people to realise their full potential, taking into account their unique spiritual, intellectual, physical and social needs.

The greater part of diocesan schools’ funding comes from State and Commonwealth Government grants, but the commitment and continuing financial contribution of parents and parish communities is still essential to fill the gap between the funds provided by government and the actual cost of running our schools. School fees are comprised of three components – Diocesan tuition fees, individual school resource and service fees and Diocesan Family School Building Levy (DFSBL).

School fees are an integral part of our Catholic School System and parents are required to sign a fee agreement commitment form on enrolment. Fee arrangements may be considered in extenuating circumstances and in consultation with the principal. The annual fees are divided equally across three terms.

Diocesan Tuition Fees

The 2024 full rate Diocesan Tuition Fees are as follows:

Kinder to Year 6 - $1,487 per year

In 2024, the family discount on Diocesan Tuition Fees, full rate, will be:

1 child family — 0% — full rate to be applied

2 child family — 15% — each child

3 child family — 25% — each child

4+ child family — 50% — each child

School Resource and Technology Service Fees

There is a Resource Fee of $545 per year for all students. This fee covers stationery items, technology expenses, incursions, most excursions (not camp or Canberra), school sport (not representative), grounds maintenance etc. as well as specialist materials needed for particular KLAs.

Diocesan Family School Building Levy (DFSBL)

The DFSBL is $1638 per year and is charged to the oldest child for each family. The levy is pooled to contribute towards past, present and future costs for building projects across all existing and for new catholic schools, and the acquisition of land for school purposes. The DFSBL rate is determined by the Diocesan Offices.

If you have an older child at a Catholic primary or high school in the Diocese, he or she will be billed by their school. The levies collected are used for building projects in all schools within the Diocese according to maintenance needs and building priorities developed by the DFSBL committee administering the funds.

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Other Fees

Diocesan Pastoral Contribution

The Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle consists of parishes, schools, CatholicCare Social Services Hunter-Manning, St Nicholas Early Education and the Curia offices. The diocesan offices exist to support the work of parishes and other pastoral ministries that are the responsibility of the Bishop and the diocesan community. There are about 160,000 Catholics residing in our diocese.

The voluntary diocesan pastoral contribution for 2024 will remain at $300 per family.

These funds will support the ongoing pastoral works of the Diocese, which include, among many initiatives:

  • the diocesan pastoral ministries office and the activities of its many advisory councils — the Diocesan Pastoral Council, the Adult Faith Formation Council, the Liturgy Council, the Ecumenical and Interfaith Council, the Social Justice Council and the Diocesan Council of Ministry with Young People
  • the provision of chaplains ministering in the following areas — University of Newcastle, Newcastle Port, prisons, hospitals and CatholicCare Social Services Hunter-Manning
  • Family Community Faith co-ordinators who reach out and connect families to their local parish and school
  • pastoral co-ordinators who work in those parishes without a resident parish priest
  • Dara van, Aboriginal Catholic Mission, Refugee Services, the Apostleship to Seafarers
  • worship and prayer, sacramental programs, marriage and relationship education, family ministry coordinators, Caritas Australia and Catholic Mission.

Enrolment Fee

A non-refundable enrolment fee is to be paid when applying for enrolment at St Francis Xavier’s. The enrolment fee covers all administrative work involved in processing the application. 

Special Fee Reductions

To assist families with limited financial resources, St Francis Xavier’s offers a lower tuition fee to means tested low income families such as Health Care and Pension Card holders. This rate is 50% of the diocesan tuition fee full rate for each child. This discount applies only to the diocesan tuition fee, not to the DFSBL or other resource and service fees charged by each individual school.

Further Concessions

A genuine inability to meet school account charges does not exclude access to any school within the diocese for a child of a family genuinely committed to Catholic faith and practice. Parents concerned about school fees should ensure they make contact with the school. Diocesan provisions exist to help in this area and the principal can also exercise discretion where genuine need exists.

Payment of Fees

School fee accounts are sent home at the beginning of Term 1 and include the full year's tuition fees. The benifit of annual billing is that fee payers can see their full obligation for the year which enables the ability to budget and plan payments. Some fees such as excursions, incursions, sport, may continue to be charged separately during the course of the year.

Payments can be made using cash, BPAY, credit card (over the phone), and EFTPOS. Direct debit from your bank, credit union or building society account is also available. Please contact the school for more information in relation to methods of payment.

Please be aware that if your direct debit is dishonoured more than three times the school will cancel the deduction. For any dishonoured direct debit, the school is charged a fee of $2.50 by your financial institution. This fee will be passed on to the fee payer and will appear on the next statement. No receipts are issued – please check bank account for proof of payment.