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Finance and Compliance

Funding distribution

The Queensland Catholic Education Commission has responsibility for state-wide policy making and for action in the areas of:

  • funding (distribution of, negotiations concerning and accountability for the funding of Catholic schools by the Commonwealth Government and the State Government)
  • research and collection of statistical, financial and educational data relevant to the Commission’s prime functions.

The Commission’s Finance Committee reviews funding distribution arrangements for all programs and recommends to the Commission arrangements for each program for formal endorsement.

These arrangements take into account:

  • the need for transparency in the Commission’s financial operations
  • the need for good administrative practice, i.e. appropriate authority and adequate documentation to facilitate the making of payments
  • the need for a fair and equitable outcome in terms of student, school and community needs.

Full details are available in the Group Funding Guidelines 2020-2029.

Government programs available to Catholic schools that are being administered by the Commission are listed in the Government Programs section of this website.

The Queensland Catholic Education Commission has an appeals process that applies to all government funding programs where the Commission is responsible for and has endorsed arrangements for the distribution of funds. The endorsed arrangements refer to the Program Funding Arrangements approved by the Commission on an annual basis.

Government Programs

Australian Government Programs

Further information on the programs below is available on the Australian Government Department of Education and Training website, on the Schooling page.

ProgramPurpose
General Recurrent GrantTo assist schools with recurrent costs of school education
Students in Community Detention CentresTo support the education of students living in the community-based detention program in Queensland Catholic schools
Non-Government Reform Support FundFunding non-government representative bodies to support implementation of its school education reform priorities:

  • Quality assurance, moderation and support for the continued improvement of the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)

  • Implementation of online delivery of the National Assessment Program

  • Improving governance and financial management practices in non-government schools


QCEC NGRSF 2020 Work Plan

QCEC NGRSF Strategic Plan 2019-2022

QCEC NGRSF Annual Report 2018
Choice and Affordability Fund

The Government describes the purpose of the Fund as driving government priorities, including:


  • Supporting parental choice and affordability

  • Supporting schools during the transition

  • Strengthening educational outcomes in schools

  • Assisting schools in regional remote areas and in drought-affected areas

  • Enhancing student wellbeing and support initiatives
Local School Community Fund Schools could apply for funding for one project between $1,000 and $20,000. Funding could be for the total cost of the project or part of the cost where the school contributes an amount. Schools need to provide assurance that the project will be completed by 31 December 2020
Capital Programs
Capital Grants Program General ElementTo provide and improve school capital infrastructure
National School Chaplaincy ProgramTo assist schools to engage the services of a chaplain to provide additional social, emotional and spiritual support to students.

For more information about the National School Chaplaincy Program visit our Student Safety and Wellbeing page.
Queensland Government Programs

Further information on Grants and Appropriations is available at the Queensland Government, Department of Education website.

ProgramPurpose
Capital Assistance SchemeTo provide funding assistance to non-government schools for the provision, conversion, refurbishment and upgrade of educational facilities and boarding accommodation.
Education Support Funding To contribute to positive education experiences for Children and Young People in Care of the State.
External Infrastructure Subsidy SchemeTo provide funding assistance (up to 50% of the eligible cost) to non-government schools for infrastructure costs external to the site imposed by local authorities as a condition of a building approval.
Queensland Kindergarten Funding SchemeTo provide funding for kindergarten service providers for students who are at least 4 years old by 30 June.
Living Away from Home AllowanceTo assist families to offset schools’ tuition fees for boarders.
Non State School Transport Assistance SchemeTo provide travel assistance to eligible applicants to subsidise the cost of transporting their children to non-State schools.
Special Needs Organisation To assist schools with recurrent operating costs associated with the programs/activities developed to meet the needs of identified special needs students.
Students with DisabilitiesTo assist schools with recurrent operating costs associated with the programs/activities developed to meet the needs of identified special needs students.
State Recurrent Per Capita GrantTo assist schools with recurrent operating costs.
Youth Support Coordinators InitiativeTo support retention and attainment of students in years 10-12. The target group will be students at risk and disengaging from school.
Alcohol Education ProgramTo promote responsible alcohol use.
Vocational Education & Training (VET) in SchoolsTo set out operational targets and activities in addressing industry needs, skill shortages and managing the implementation of the new VETiS Funding framework.
Advancing Teaching and Learning ProgramAims to develop professional teacher capability and school leadership
ETRF – VET Coordination and Career EnhancementProvision of additional support services for young people in the Senior Phase of Learning, with an emphasis on the coordination of VET programs and enhancement of career guidance and counselling.
Special Assistance Schools Program – Capital AssistanceTo provide funding assistance to Special Assistance Schools for the provision, conversion, refurbishment and upgrade of educational facilities.
Student Welfare Worker ProgramTo engage the services of a student welfare worker to provide additional social, emotional and spiritual support to students. For more information visit our Student Safety and Wellbeing page >/a>
eSmartTo promote cybersafety by teaching smart, safe and responsible use of online technology and represent a combined value of up to $6,000 per school.
Refugee and Asylum Seeker Early Childhood Pilot A pilot to provide financial support to families from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds who are experiencing financial vulnerability to participate in kindergarten.
Sector Support for Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme To provide funding relief from the Queensland Government for the provision of free kindergarten to children in the year before Prep by community kindergartens for the 10 week period of Term 2, 2020.
Spotlight Schools The Spotlight Schools initiative provides an opportunity for high performing alternative education settings (i.e. non-state special assistance schools) to further develop their high quality practices and service as exemplars for other schools delivering alternative education

Capital Programs

For information about Capital programs for Queensland Catholic schools click here.

Reporting Timetable

2020 Reporting Timetable

There are a number of data collections that occur each year, some of them are government collections, others are to fulfil requirements that meet funding accountabilities or to provide statistical data for annual reporting on Catholic schools. This facility is intended to help authorities with their planning.

 

January - March

January


State Students with Disabilities (SWD) Accountability and Acquittal

School Authorities that did not complete the 2019 State SWD Education Accountability in December 2019 (including the submission of Y12 outcomes) are required to complete the report before the Friday, 31 January 2020 to fulfil accountability requirements with the Queensland Department of Education and Training for the Students with Disability Program for Non-State Schools.

School Authorities’ Delegates should continue with their submitted copies from their first-round submission in December 2019. Should you need help retrieving first-round submission, please contact QCEC Data Collections (datacollections@qcec.catholic.edu.au). In case nothing has been submitted prior during the first round of submission, please start with a blank template.

Due Date: Friday, 31 January 2020

 

2020 School Directory

For School Authorities who missed out on the first round of this collection in December 2019, this collection allows School Authorities to review and update the existing and add new school details for any last-minute changes for this school year.

School Details 2020

Add / Update School Details

Due Date: Friday, 31 January 2020

 

February


Advancing Teaching and Learning (ATL)

School Authorities are required to provide details of their planned ATL activities for 2020 by completing the template. Please refer to QCEC Circular 2018/130 and QCEC Circular 2019/002 for further details about this program.

Advancing Teaching and Learning Annual Plan Template

Due Date: Monday, 3 February 2020

 

NAPLAN Student Background Data

Data collection process for the National Assessment Program – Literacy & Numeracy (NAPLAN) testing of students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.

The key dates for collection of the data (subject to verification from Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority) are:

Tuesday, 11 Feb 2020 – NAPLAN portal will open for receipt of data
Monday, 17 Feb 2020 – Catholic Diocesan will finalize data upload for all member schools
Tuesday, 18 Feb 2020 – Catholic Diocesan schools will be able to access the NAPLAN portal to edit their data
Thursday, 5 Mar 2020 – NAPLAN portal will close for the provision of all data

Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) NAPLAN Portal

QCAA NAPLAN Portal – User Manual

 

2020 Initial Enrolments

2020 QCEC Online Data Collection

Report from each Catholic School Authority on enrolments for each year level on Friday, 7 February 2020. This is to allow QCEC to respond to the National Catholic Education Commission and the media on preliminary enrolments for 2020.

Due Date: Friday, 7 February 2020

 

Application for New Schools/Schools Undertaking Changes to Operation

Catholic School Authorities must complete an application for new schools or schools undertaking changes to their operation (e.g. a new level of schooling where a primary school adds secondary year levels). Details are available on the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board (NASSAB) and Department of Education and Training website.

All applications must be accompanied by the NSSAB accreditation documentation and are to be submitted via QCEC Approved Authority Application form. Separations and amalgamations can only be approved for Australian Government funding from the commencement of the following year.

Please note: the cut-off date to submit the DET forms for separations or amalgamations is 1 July 2020.

Due Date: Friday, 21 February 2020

 

Queensland Government Census on Students

Queensland Government data collection: The Queensland Government census day is Friday 28 February 2020 and is conducted by the Office of the  Non-State Schools Accreditation Board (NASSAB).

Census Date: Friday, 28 February 2020

Due Date: Friday, 6 March 2020

 

Onshore Education Program Student Claims Process Term 1 2020

School authorities are required to provide a list of students in the categories of Illegal Maritime Arrivals (IMAs):

  • Living in the community under Community Detention (CD) arrangements
  • Being accommodated in alternative places of detention (APOD) such as Immigration Transit Accommodation (ITA) in Brisbane

The list is then collated by the Secretariat and forward to the Department of Home Affairs for invoicing of associated funding. Please refer to the Onshore Education Program – Student Claims Process for non-government for more information.

Data collection tool: Onshore Education Program Student List 2020 Term 1

Students who have special needs requiring additional support can also apply for special need loading by completing a Special Needs Business Case form.

Due Date: Friday, 24 February 2020

 

Student Residential Address and Other Information Collection

Student Residential Address and Other Information Collection is a Commonwealth Government data collection which has started as an annual practice since 2018. The collection window for 2020 is opened between Monday, 17 February 2020 and Friday, 13 March 2020. The data collected will be used to refine the calculation methodology of each school’s Capacity to Contribute (SES) score. Approved authorities are legally required to complete this collection in accordance with the Australian Education Regulation.

Due Date: Friday, 13 March 2020

 

March


Queensland Government Census on Students

Queensland Government data collection: The Queensland Government census day is Friday, 28 February 2020 and is conducted by the Office of the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board.

Census Date: Friday, 28 February 2020

Due Date: Friday, 6 March 2020

 

State Students with Disabilities (SWD) Program Financial Accountability

Grant recipients are required to provide a report on school level expenditure of State SWD funds.

Completed acquittal forms to be:

Template will be available by the end of January 2020.

Due Date: Friday, 6 March 2020

 

Student Residential Address and Other Information Collection

Student Residential Address and Other Information Collection is a Commonwealth Government data collection which has started as an annual practice since 2018. The collection window for 2020 is opened between Monday, 17 February 2020 and Friday, 13 March 2020. The data collected will be used to refine the calculation methodology of each school’s Capacity to Contribute (SES) score. Approved authorities are legally required to complete this collection in accordance with the Australian Education Regulation.

Due Date: Friday, 13 March 2020

 

Queensland College of Teacher (QCT) census of approved teachers

School principals are required to complete the census online through the Employer Services facility on the QCT website. All principals should have received an email notification by QCT advising of the census.

Due Date: Friday, 20 March 2020 (to be confirmed)

 

Youth Support Initiative (YSI) Financial Report

Under the funding agreement, Catholic School Authorities are required to provide details of how the allocated funds were used for the reporting period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019. This information will be included in the financial report to be submitted to the Queensland Department of Education and Training.

Note: Only Diocesan offices and Edmund Rice Education Australia are required to complete this exercise.

Template will be available by the end of January 2020.

Due Date: Friday, 20 March 2020

 

Applications for Capital Grants

QCEC data collection: For General Capital (State and Australian Government) requests for funding; see QCEC Circular 2019/094 of 5 September 2019 for relevant details.

Due Date: Friday, 27 March 2020

 

April - June

April


QCEC Financial Accountability for Government Funded Programs

QCEC provides to each payee a statement of government funds paid to that payee in the preceding year. The statements are to be signed by the authorised officer and the auditor responsible for signing off on the payee’s financial statements. The statements were issued in January 2020.

An additional financial accountability certificate has been issued for the Non-Government Reform Support Fund (NGRSF) residual payment. This certificate also needs to be completed and submitted to QCEC by 3 April 2020.

Due Date: Friday, 3 April 2020 

 

Kindergarten Enrolment Collection

Validation of kindergarten enrolment data for Semester 1, Term 1- 2020 is to be entered in the QCEC data collection instrument.

2020 Semester 1 Term 1 Kindergarten Data Entry

Due Date: Wednesday, 8 April 2020 

 

May


Financial Questionnaire (FQ) – Provision of Data to QCEC

The annual Australian Government Financial Questionnaire (FQ) for the collection of 2019 data from Non-Government schools and Systems will be available from April 2020. Catholic School Authorities are required to enter the FQ data in the QCEC FA and FQ template. This information will be provided in bulk by QCEC to SchoolsHUB. The QCEC FA and FQ template will be circulated in March 2020.

Due Date: Friday, 8 May 2020 

 

Student Attendance (STATS) – Acknowledge Reporting Obligations

It is a school’s obligation under the Australian Education Regulation 2013 to acknowledge your reporting obligations for the STATS collection because the actual data collections take place in July and October. Please log on to SchoolsHUB and navigate to the STATS site for your action.

Due Date: Friday, 15 May 2020

Application for Non State Schools Transport Assistance Scheme

Online parent applications can be made for Student Travel Assistance – Semester 1, 2020 via the School Transport website

Programs available:

– Bus Fare Assistance Program

– Students with Disabilities (SWD)

Due Date: Friday, 29 May 2020 

 

June


National School Chaplaincy Program (NSCP) Reporting – Semester 1

Participating schools are required to provide evidence that appropriate processes are put in place and reviewed at a minimum of a 6 monthly basis to ensure that:

  1. participation by students is voluntary;
  2. chaplains may be from any faith;
  3. chaplains must not proselytise;
  4. chaplains must respect, accept and be sensitive to other people’s views, values and beliefs;
  5. chaplains must comply with Queensland laws and policies in relation to child protection matters.
  6. chaplains must meet the Minimum Qualification Requirements which are:
  • a Certificate IV in youth work through the Australian Qualifications Framework nationally accredited Community Services Training Package; or
  • a Certificate IV in Pastoral Care; or
  • an equivalent qualification or higher qualification; and

this certificate or equivalent qualification must include competencies in mental health and making appropriate referrals.

Please refer to the Program Fact Sheet for further detail.

Participating schools will be contacted and provided with templates and instructions for reporting closer to the due date.

Due date: Monday, 1 June 2020

 

School Welfare Worker Program (SWWP) Reporting – Semester 1

Participating schools are required to provide evidence that appropriate processes are put in place and reviewed at a minimum of a 6 monthly basis to ensure that:

  1. participation by students is voluntary;
  2. SWWs may be from any faith;
  3. SWW must not proselytise;
  4. SWWs must respect, accept and be sensitive to other people’s views, values and beliefs;
  5. SWWs must comply with Queensland laws and policies in relation to child protection matters.
  6. SWWs must meet the Minimum Qualification Requirements which are:
  • a Certificate IV in youth work;
  • a Certificate IV in Pastoral Care; or
  • an equivalent qualification or higher qualification.

Note: SWWs may be ‘working towards’ the above qualifications.

This certificate or equivalent qualification must include two units of competency in ‘making appropriate referrals’, ‘mental health’, ‘working with young people’ or ‘cultural awareness and support’.

Please refer to the Program Fact Sheet Program Fact Sheet for further detail.

Participating schools will be contacted and provided with templates and instructions for reporting closer to the due date.

Due Date: Monday, 1 June 2020


Trade Training Centre Activity Report

Trade Training Centres and Trade Skills Centres are required to complete the Trade Training Centre 2019 Activity Report and Principal’s Declaration and return them to their Catholic School Authority in order to be submitted to QCEC by Wednesday 17 June 2020.

– Reporting templates, Principal declaration forms and guidelines has been provided by QCEC to the Catholic School Authorities to distribute to the relevant Trade Training Centre lead school in May.

– For Trade Training Centre clusters, the lead school is responsible for the final completion and submission of the report and Principal’s declaration to their Catholic School Authority who will then submit to QCEC.

– QCEC is required to check and upload each completed report into the Australian Government’s SchoolsHub by Friday, 10 July 2020.

Due date: Wednesday, 17 June 2020

State Allowance Acquittal Form

Under section 374 of the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 (the Act) and section 9.3 of the Non-State Schools Recurrent Grant Policy, the governing body is required to provide to the Queensland Minister for Education school allowance acquittal details for each non-state school for the previous year of operation.

Please ensure the forms are signed by an authorised person from the governing body and an accountant who is independent from the school and the governing body. Further information regarding the allowance acquittal is available here.

The acquittal forms were sent to CSA via email on 26 February 2020. Please send the completed acquittal form to datacollections@qcec.catholic.edu.au by Friday 19 June 2020. Please do NOT send the form directly to the Office of Non-State Education.

Due Date: Friday, 19 June 2020 

 

School Annual Report – School Report

Schools are required to publish their school annual report on the school website, and in at least one other format (e.g. hard copy, newsletter, handbook, noticeboard or sign), which the school can choose. To assist schools in completing their Annual Report the following Apparent Retention Rates for 2019 will be provided.

Refer to the DET website for more information.

Due Date: Tuesday, 30 June 2020 

 

Financial Questionnaire (FQ) – Online Declaration

Schools and school authorities are required to upload their audited financial statements, review the uploaded FQ data, provide comments for any anomalies and confirm the data in the SchoolsHUB portal by 30 June 2020. Please notify QCEC Secretariat as soon as this is completed.

Due Date: Tuesday, 30 June 2020 

  

July


Kindergarten Enrolment Collection

Validation of kindergarten enrolment data for Semester 1, Term 2 – 2020 and the provision of forecast attendance for Semester 2, to be entered in the QCEC data collection instrument. This information is required to facilitate release of funding to QCEC in its capacity as the Central Governing Body (CGB).

2020 Semester 1 Term 2 Kindergarten Data Entry

Due Date: Wednesday, 1 July 2020 

 

Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme (QKFS) Performance Reporting – Semester 1

Delegated Catholic agencies are required to complete a quarterly Performance Report which asks for issues/trends impacting on their organisation and kindergarten services.

2020 – QKFSP Performance Reporting Template 2020

Due Date: Wednesday, 1 July 2020 

 

Preliminary National Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) Data Collection

Preliminary NCCD data collection from school authorities to QCEC helps anomalies finding prior to its actual collection in August. The data collection will close on 17 July 2020 (Week 1 Term 3) while school authorities are encouraged to submit their data as soon as the data is available to them.

Data collection tool: NCCD Preliminary Data Collection

Due Date: Friday, 17 July 2020 

 

Safety in Schools Collection

The Queensland Department of Education and Training (DET) requires each school to complete a Safety in Schools Statement under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006.

Data collection tool: Safety in School 2020

Each diocese should at least submit one copy of the form for all schools plus one each for any school within the authority with a “yes” responds to any question asked in the survey.

Due Date: Friday, 17 July 2020 

Education Support Funding Program (ESFP) Annual Report and Acquittal

This data collection identifies students living in “Out of Home Care (OOHC)”. Students must have a completed Education Support Plan as at 30 June 2020.

The data collected will inform the 2020/2021 allocation of Education Support Funding and the Financial Acquittal for 2019/2020.

Collection templates (available in June 2020) will be distributed via email to the School Authorities data representatives.

Due Date: Friday, 17 July 2020 

 

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