Where do Brisbane’s richest families send their kids? Search your school here

The city’s highest-earning private school parents send their children to Brisbane Girls Grammar and Brisbane Grammar School, with the median household income for students at both schools topping $300,000.

But as fees rise, the peak body for independent schools says more parents are saving years in advance, sometimes choosing a school before their child is even born.

The Department of Education figures, which include the income of both parents, reveal Brisbane Girls Grammar households have a median income of $343,000, while those at the neighbouring boys’ school have a median income of $323,000.

This year, fees for the non-selective Brisbane Girls Grammar will put a family out by $32,083 a year, while Brisbane Grammar School, the city’s most expensive private school, charges $36,420.

Other high-earning families sent their children to Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie), St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School, St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace, and Brisbane Boys’ College.

Independent Schools Queensland chief executive Chris Mountford said its research revealed 74 per cent of the state’s parents started preparing financially for their children’s education years in advance.

“Parents are making deliberate and early decisions about their children’s education because they see it as one of the most important investments they’ll ever make,” Mountford said.

“They’re not just choosing a school, they’re choosing a future.”

ISQ’s report – drawing on answers from more than 3300 parents at independent schools across the state – showed a quarter chose a school before their child was born.

Three-quarters also said the schools’ appearance influenced their decision, either “wholly or to a significant degree”.

“These insights show that parents are deeply engaged in the school selection process,” Mountford said.

“They’re looking for schools that reflect their values and offer the best possible environment for their child to thrive.”

St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School principal Ros Curtis AM said the inner-city school – whose families draw in a median household income of $293,000 – stood out for its single-sex learning environment, which included many boarders.

She said 20 per cent of the student body boarded, which meant many came from outside Brisbane or overseas.

“This provides a wonderful richness to our suburban school and a strong community,” Curtis said.

“When prospective families visit the campus, they can tangibly feel that warm sense of community as they meet students, staff and parents, and they comment on it.”

Curtis said the school also regularly ran fundraising events for charity, as well as school infrastructure and scholarship funds, for students from various backgrounds.

“The school community understands that school fees do not cover all costs associated with a school – particularly when looking towards major development projects,” she said.

“The goal for the school fundraising is always about participation – those who can give more do, but all amounts large and small are gratefully accepted.”

More than four in five parents surveyed by the ISQ said fees were covered by the family’s income, while 6 per cent relied partially or wholly on scholarships and bursaries.

The research also found that one in five students at independent schools came from families in the lowest two income brackets – with a dual income of less than $104,000 a year.

While sending a year 12 student to Gregory Terrace will cost a family $24,202 in 2025, the remaining five schools with the highest-earning parents will put families out by at least $30,000 for a child’s final year of school.

Catholic schools made up 10 of Brisbane’s 20 private schools with the highest-earning parents. Some, but not all, are run by Brisbane Catholic Education, which is controlled by the Brisbane Archdiocese.

BCE said its schools were deeply connected with local communities, and provided quality teaching and learning outcomes for students of all backgrounds.

“[BCE’s] are a mixture of primary, secondary and prep to year 12 schools in metropolitan, regional and rural locations,” it said.

But education economist and policy consultant Adam Rorris said current funding models had left parents with less choice when it came to schooling options, as public schools struggled to secure funds.

“By governments’ own metrics, public schools are significantly underfunded,” Rorris said.

“Those same governments – state and federal – have sufficient money to overfund private schools that oftentimes are catering to far wealthier families, and children that have – relative to many public schools families – better resources.”

Rorris said the amount of funding that private schools received – dictated by the federal government’s schooling resource standard – varied between schools, but often equated to millions for private schools across their full student body.

He said the current state and federal funding models had created “unfair funding systems as a legacy for schools”.

“When we talk about the schooling resource standard, that was not about turning out violinists and turning out physicists,” Rorris said.

“That was the cost, on average, that would be required for schools to produce students who were functionally numerate and functionally literate and ought to be on the path to that at grade 3, grade 5, grade 7, and grade 9 – that’s what it was based on.”

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