The Australian Education Union has demanded that the wealthiest private schools in Australia should disclose income generated from trusts and donations as well as what assets and capital they have.
The information, including all current and potential income available to both public and private schools, should be published on an updated My School website, the AEU's president Angelo Gavrielatos is quoted in a report by The Age, published in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority is investigating the addition of the financial data to the updated My School website and a range of other proposals, including the measurement of a school's ability to add value to a child's learning, according to the report.
"This is a key issue, that the public knows the total resources available to a school, including income, capital and assets," said Mr Gavrielatos, a prominent member of the My School website working party, established by the then education minister, and now Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.
"I am very worried that without this information, a distorted picture emerges about the money available to each school."
Private schools fear that disclosing this information would provide ammunition against so-called elite institutions during the federal election and a separate, ongoing review of education funding.
Dr Geoff Newcombe, the Association of Independent Schools of New South Wales executive director, said information published for government and non-government schools should "be identical and directly comparable", and not for a display of "the assets built up over many years through parent and other private contributions".
FULL STORY
Private school assets and income should be disclosed: union (Sydney Morning Herald/The Age)