Catholic schools predict their coffers will be $250 million short across the country this year and next.
In a memo from the National Catholic Education Commission to deputy opposition leader Tanya Plibersek's office, the organisation has revealed it expects only Northern Territory schools will receive a bump in federal government funding relative to what they were expecting.
The memo, sent to Labor's education spokeswoman in January, highlights the biggest cuts in NSW, with an expected $71.2 million cut in 2018 and 2019.
Victoria and Queensland follow with estimated respective cuts of $63.1 million and $56.9 million.
The Northern Territory was forecast to receive an additional $1.8 million.
The Turnbull government maintains funding for Catholic schools has grown from $6.3 billion last year to $6.58 billion this year, and is expected to rise to $9.25 billion by 2027.
"The Queensland Catholic Education Commission is receiving around $50 million additional, plus, this year compared to 2017 and that will grow next year by a further $57 million and keep growing year on year as part of our record and growing funding," Education Minister Simon Birmingham told reporters after an education forum in the Queensland electorate of Longman on Tuesday night.
But the NCEC's calculations compare anticipated contributions under the new school funding system compared with higher allocations anticipated under previous government funding policies and the opposition's current policy.
That's where schools argue there's an effective cut.
"The Labor Party can choose to compare that against Labor promises, but those promises are unaffordable and unbelievable," Senator Birmingham said.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull met with three senior Catholic archbishops earlier this month to address concerns around non-government school funding.
Senator Birmingham is consulting with the sector on a new funding model following a report released by the National School Resourcing Board two weeks ago into socio-economic status (SES) scores.
