Opposition Leader Jess Wilson lobbed the schools funding accusation in a letter to Department of Treasury and Finance secretary Camille Kingston on Wednesday, in which she argues that leaving details of the reduced schools funding out of Thursday’s budget update would breach the state’s financial management laws and leave parents of Catholic and other non-government school students in the dark about a change in government policy.

The letter does not state how significant those cuts would be, but linked them to a decision reached internally by Labor in October.

It comes as Victoria’s Department of Treasury and Finance prepares to release its final pre-election budget health check on Thursday.

Wilson urged the secretary to include any funding cuts in that update.

“Victorians are entitled to know the decisions being made in their name, particularly when those decisions affect the funding of their children’s schools and require changes to existing legislation,” she wrote in the letter.

“The PEBU (pre-election budget update) exists precisely to provide an accurate and transparent account of the state’s financial position before Victorians cast their votes. Its integrity must not depend on the disclosure preferences of the government of the day.”

“We also ask that you also disclose in the [PEBU] any other secret cuts or taxes that the Andrews-Allan-Carroll Labor Government has failed to tell the Victorian people about.”

Labor has denied it has cut funding to non-government schools, but acknowledges that under an adjusted funding formula approved by the cabinet, they will receive less over the next four years than they would have under the previous arrangement.

The Age reported today that the formula was changed to prevent non-government schools from receiving more than they are entitled to under the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS).

“Catholic schools will never have their funding cut under Labor,” a spokesperson said.

“Every school is receiving more funding. This change will ensure private schools don’t exceed 100 per cent of their SRS funding.”

The fresh row has ignited just weeks out from Victoria’s November 28 state election.

The Carroll Government’s position has enraged the Victorian Catholic Education Authority (VCEA), which last month wrote to Premier Ben Carroll and Opposition Leader Jess Wilson seeking formal commitments on recurrent funding, school infrastructure, payroll tax, planning reform and early learning.

The VCEA administers funding for Catholic schools and claimed it is having to find more money for its teachers following the recent pay deal reached between the Government and public school staff.

“The current government plans to change longstanding funding arrangements for non-government schools if they win the election,” VCEA chief executive Elizabeth Labone told The Age.

“Our modelling indicates this would leave Victorian Catholic schools more than $200 million worse off over the next four years.

“We are deeply concerned by reports that these cuts could be buried in the pre-election budget update and not be transparently disclosed to Victorian families to help them make an informed decision about their vote at the state election.”

VCEA is presently engaged in a protracted bargaining dispute affecting more than 30,000 staff across the sector.

Catholic school staff in Victoria are being offered salary increases broadly matching government schools, but without equivalent workload improvements and with unfavourable changes to existing conditions, according to the Independent Education Union.

Unlike their government school colleagues – and Catholic education staff in every other Australian state – Victorian Catholic education staff cannot currently access key bargaining rights, including the right to take protected industrial action during enterprise bargaining.

At a Fair Work Commission hearing in June, the IEU argued that staff need strong bargaining rights to secure timely and fair outcomes.

Catholic employers opposed the application and more than 20 weeks after the hearing, the Commission’s decision remains outstanding.

“Catholic bargaining is at a critical point,” IEU Victoria Tasmania general secretary David Brear said in a statement two weeks ago.

“Employers continue to seek to erode conditions while schools face unsustainable workloads, safety concerns and pressure on the resources needed to support every student.

“The Victorian Catholic Education Authority, acting on behalf of Catholic employers, is holding overdue salary increases to ransom to bulldoze through cuts to conditions while our members are denied access to industrial rights.”

Employers have made full backpay to August 10 conditional on reaching agreement in-principle with the IEU by November 15, while key draft clauses have been provided months behind schedule or remain outstanding.

The IEU is calling on Catholic employers to withdraw the backpay deadline, commit to matching all salaries and allowances paid in government schools, provide the outstanding drafting, and negotiate improvements to workload and existing protections.

(with AAP)