As a result, Block Grant Authorities (BGA) representing Catholic and Independent Schools were established in each state. In the two territories, joint BGAs were established.
Under Commonwealth CGP guidelines BGA’s act as the Commonwealth’s agent in the assessment of applications and their recommendation to the Australian Government Education Minister for approval.
In response to this initiative the Catholic Bishops of NSW incorporated itself as the ‘Trustees of the Province of Sydney and Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn” (Trustees), creating the NSW Catholic Block Grant Authority (CBGA) as the trading name for purposes of administration of the CGP.
As the contract authority for capital and capital related grant funding the Trustees delegated its authority to carry out the management of the program to the NSW CBGA.
In 2008, the NSW Government announced the closure of the Interest Subsidy Scheme and establishment of the NSW Building Grants Assistance Scheme (BGAS). The first year of funding was in 2010/11.
To ensure efficiency in the process, the rules governing the grant process were harmonised so that one set of rules applies to both Australian and NSW Government grants. There are minor differences in certain aspects such as the recognition processes are slightly different.
Following the incorporation of Catholic Schools NSW (CSNSW) in 2017, the CBGA became a function of the newly established organisation, distinct from a separate legal entity. The NSW Bishops, as owners of the company, have reserved powers under the constitution of the CSNSW for the allocation of both recurrent and capital grant funding.
In 2018, CBGA Principles were agreed to by the Bishops for inclusion in CBGA Membership agreements that contain a range of conditions in addition to those contained in legislation and government guidelines. The CBGA Principles were updated following representations to the Bishops in 2019.
Our responsibility is to support all NSW Catholic Schools to obtain equitable access to capital funding support, with support available to assist and advise all schools on future applications.
The CBGA will endeavour to ensure that payment claims from schools/diocesan authorities are paid as early as possible in the designated offer year. However, because the CBGA must maintain a cashflow in relation to its total commitments against funds available at a particular time, it may be necessary, at times, for some payments, for which claims are made early in the year, to be completed later in the year.
The NSW Government provided $84 million from 2010/2011 to 2017/2018. In the four years from 2018/19 to 2022/23 the NSW Government will have provided funding of approximately $300 million. This funding uplift was based on assisting the NSW Government to meet the provision of spaces for increasing student enrolments. The NSW Government funding over this period matches the funding received from the Australian Government in the ten years from 2011 to 2021.
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