ALLEGED ILLEGAL DONATIONS BY SCHOOLS – Donations to Liberal party show the need to ensure public money is spent for approved purposes 

An education funding expert says alleged illegal donations by Catholic Schools New South Wales to Liberal party operatives, under investigation by the state corruption watchdog, show governments need to check taxpayer funding was “being spent according to its purposes” and not funnelled into political donations.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) is investigating allegations that political donations were made by Catholic Schools NSW “in amounts that were not declared and exceeded applicable donation caps”.

It is alleged the donations were arranged and approved by the Catholic Schools NSW chief executive, Dallas McInerney, to recruit or renew members to the party – a practice known as “branch stacking”. Catholic Schools NSW is the governing body for nearly 600 schools.

Trevor Cobbold, the convenor of the advocacy group Save our Schools and a former Productivity Commission economist, said the commonwealth and state governments should act alongside the Icac investigation “in the face of very serious allegations” to jointly audit Catholic Schools NSW.

Cobbold said nearly 80% of funding for Catholic schools comes from federal and state funding, or around $3.8bn in 2024. As a registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), it would be at risk of losing its charitable status and tax exemptions if it is found to have a “disqualifying political purpose”.