The West Australian government is giving several millions of dollars annually to cover the administration overheads of religious organisations that recruit chaplains, while public schools are increasingly pleading for funds to allow them to directly employ professional wellbeing workers.
Documents obtained by the Rationalist Society of Australia (RSA) under freedom of information (FOI) laws show that up to 39 per cent of total state and federal funds made available to schools as part of the chaplaincy and wellbeing officer program goes to labour hire firms to “assist with administration and overhead costs”.
A 2025 briefing note provided by the Department of Education to the state’s minister for education, Sabine Winton, says that the state’s $28 million contribution to the program is “split into 3 components”, with one of those components being a direct payment to the external service providers.
The document – which recommends that the state government “reassess” its position of not allowing schools to use the program funds to directly employ wellbeing officers – estimates the extra “buying power” each school would have if they directly hired professional staff instead of having to use labour hire firms.
Schools located in metropolitan and regional areas would receive $40,876 instead of $24,817 each year, while schools in remote areas would have access to $43,840 instead of $27,780.
These figures suggest that the portion that goes to administration and overhead costs is over $16,000 – or up to 39 per cent of the total amount available for each school under the federal- and state-funded program.
According to the document, which assesses the ‘risks and considerations’ of allowing schools to directly hire, it is “unclear” whether such schools would be eligible for the “state funded annual administration payment currently paid to service providers”. It adds that providing the equivalent administrative payment to schools would increase the buying power of schools but not impact the overall allocated budget.
“However, schools would be required to take on the administrative roles and HR management associated with the position and meet compliance/reporting requirements”, it says.
Noted among the ‘risks and considerations’ of moving to the direct hire model is that the department had entered into contracts with labour hire firms in “good faith” with “without ‘competition’ from the Department”.
Of the six service providers that recruit chaplains and wellbeing support staff, it is believed the dominant one is Christian group YouthCARE.
YouthCARE, in its last financial statement posted on the national charities regulator’s website, reported that it received $8 million in income from government sources.
As the RSA has reported extensively, faith-based labour-hire firms require candidates for chaplaincy roles to have religious credentials.
In Western Australia, the Equal Opportunity Commissioner has labelled such practices, in the government-funded school chaplaincy roles, as constituting “prima-facie religious conviction discrimination” under the state’s equal opportunity laws.
The 2025 briefing note suggested the Department of Education reassess its position opposing the use of the funds for direct hire due to, first and foremost, “increasing requests from schools”.
As the RSA reported last month, several public schools in Western Australia have pleaded with the Department of Education to be allowed to use funds – including the federal government’s portion, delivered as part of the National Student Wellbeing Program (NSWP) – to directly employ staff.
In emails to the department in 2024/25, schools raised concerns about the religious nature of the chaplaincy roles and their inability to secure suitable workers through the approved labour hire firms.
The documents also reveal that schools feel they have been “forced to go without” and “forgo the funds allocated to our school”, and have warned that getting the funds is a “matter of priority” to help boost student welfare and wellbeing.
The documents also show that the Department of Education recouped almost $2.8 million from 185 schools that were unable to engage a chaplain or student wellbeing office through the third-party providers.
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Si Gladman is Executive Director at the Rationalist Society of Australia. He also hosts ‘The Secular Agenda’ podcast.
Image: Priscilla Du Preez (Unsplash)