'Mind blowing': Top private school education nears $500,000

Grandparents make big contribution

Mr Higgins said about 40 per cent of private school education is funded by grandparents who factor it into estate planning. "Clearly with the costs at elite schools the propensity of grandparents is to take a significant role," he said.

He said following a change in the way ASG sliced the data, he couldn't indicate the rate of increase this year, but education costs were rising at twice the rate of inflation.

Although government education was cheapest in Tasmania, private schools in Hobart were third most expensive after Sydney and Brisbane, at $276,338 for 13 years of school.

Mr Higgins said the biggest shock was the cost of government education. In Brisbane, a full school education at a state-owned school would cost $75,601

"A lot of people think it's free. But it's clearly not. There are all sorts of hidden costs. A lot of government schools charge fees. They call it 'a contribution' or 'voluntary' but most parents cough it up," he said.

"In NSW the parent contribution is $748 a year. On top of that you've got all the usual things like uniforms and tuition fees. But now you've also got technology. Devices consume an average of $1307 of parents' money. Sports equipment and transport are getting more expensive.

"Then there's extra tuition. People say it's parents' prerogative but a lot of parents go along with it."

Even government schools expensive

The national average for government school costs is $4913 a year for each child. "So even if you decide not to send your kids to private school, a family with three kids could look at $180,000 total cost for 13 years of school."

He said ASG factors in one year of pre-school in addition to years 1 to 12.

"That's all after-tax dollars. Even with government education, people are funding education with second jobs, drawing down on mortgages and of course grandparents," he said.

"With less discretionary money to spend, it's going to be very hard for some families to pay for education."

Mr Higgins said costs were not necessarily lower in regional Australia. In NSW a government education in regional areas will cost $73,808 that's $7338 more than in Sydney and 27.3 per cent above the national average.

The Independent Schools Council of Australia contested some of the data. Chief executive Barry Wallett said while elite schools charged high fees, 36 per cent of private schools charged less than $5000 for a full year's tuition - that included some religious and community schools.

The average Catholic education in metropolitan Australia would cost $127,027 for 13 years.