BRISBANE Catholic Education is set to absorb a 30 per cent rise in public liability insurance, and will restrict 2004 school fee increases in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Brisbane Catholic Education executive director David Hutton said school fees would rise by about 3 per cent.
He said that while rising costs were an issue, a specific increase in fees because of insurance had not been factored.
He said all Catholic schools in Queensland faced a difficult financial outlook for 2004.
As authorities tried to finalise their budgets for next year, they still did not have 2003 Federal Government grant figures which normally were received in October, Mr Hutton said. That was hampering projections for next year.
Mr Hutton said Brisbane Catholic Education had also been informed its State Government grants component would be increasing by only 1.9 per cent.
‘We’ve also got to pay salary increases,’ he said. ‘We expect to have to pay 3.8 per cent (increase) backdated to June 2003.’
Salaries account for 95 per cent of Brisbane Catholic Education’s costs.
Brisbane Catholic Education is facing a 10 per cent increase in personal accident insurance for volunteer workers and a 3 per cent rise in composite risk property insurance.
