The Australian Education Union said today that parents and the public would now have to wait until at least 2013 to get an accurate picture of the financial resources of schools.

Reacting to the news that no further financial information would be published on the 2012 version of My School, AEU Federal President Angelo Gavrielatos said: “It is obvious why private schools and the Liberal Party oppose parents and the public having information on the assets and resources of schools.

“Clearly they don’t want people to know what profits they are making, what the total level of income they are getting, what they have in the bank and what they have stashed away in foundations and trusts.

“However, as the Prime Minister has said, it is only by looking at the total amount of funds a school has at its disposal is it possible to understand the relationship between resources and educational outcomes.

“Private schools get billions in taxpayers’ funds and yet many of them don’t want to provide the information that would allow people to make a judgement about whether they are spending it wisely or whether it’s just boosting their profits.

“Education funding is scarce and we must make sure that it is being utilised to ensure every child can get a high quality education, not fuelling a resources gap between schools.

“Private schools in Melbourne and Sydney are making annual profits of up to $12 million and yet that information is not readily available.

"The My School website currently has information on some of a school's income and capital expenditure but nothing on what they have in the bank, what profits they are making and what they are raising through their fundraising arms.

“All we hear today from the private school lobby is that it is too hard to produce this information or it will confuse people – exactly the same arguments they used to try and stop the financial information currently on the My School site appearing.”