56. Members of the NT BGA Priorities Committee (See Priorities Committee) will use the information provided by the applicant school to assess the school's eligibility for support under the following criteria:

a) Educational Disadvantage Assessment 

b)   Facility Standards Assessment

c)   Financial Needs Assessment.

57. Assessments documented under these aspects will form the basis of the decision for recommendation or non-recommendation of grants, and also the recommended levels of grants.

57. Current Australian Government objectives are closely aligned to improving educational provisions for various disadvantaged groups identifiable in the community and, in particular, groups suffering from educational disadvantage. Consequently, when assessing the need for capital funding assistance to schools, serious consideration must be given to those factors which influence educational disadvantage.

58. Schools will be ranked in terms of the Australian Government Guidelines, primarily by the extent of educational disadvantage of the students, then according to other factors as outlined in the Administrative Guidelines.

59. The NT BGA has decided that on a year to year basis one of the most accurate indicators of educational disadvantage is the Socio Economic Indicator (SEI) of the School, a form completed by school's applying for grants each year.  The schools SES and ICSEA scores will also be considered.

60. This assessment then must be taken in the context of needs as evaluated in the Facility Standards Assessment and the Financial Needs Assessment.

62. An evaluation of this factor involves consideration of the project relative to: a) Its intrinsic merit:

•      the appropriateness of the cost, size and use of the facilities to be funded, in relation to sound educational planning.  In determining the 'appropriateness' of a proposed project, BGAs shall use a subjective assessment that may take into consideration geographic and future demographic trends, local area cost pressures and appropriate state or territory area standards;

•      the relative contributions of the projects to the Program's objectives;

•      the condition and suitability of existing facilities in relation to the level of facilities needed;

•      where relevant, the extent to which the projects effect economies through the shared provision of educational or recreational services otherwise provided independently by State governments, local governments and non-government schools; and 

b) the level of provision of facilities at other comparable schools:

63. Assessment of the facilities against Australian Government standards needs to be made by direct comparison between sizes chosen and costs estimated for the project, and those recommended.

64. When assessing the project against the level of provision in other comparable schools, the NT BGA ranks different facilities in order of priority.  This ranking may be adjusted periodically as the level of facilities is improved, or as needs change.  At present the broad categories of priority are:

Priority 1:    Projects associated with health and safety considerations.

Priority 2:   Projects which seek to provide minimum curriculum opportunities.

Priority 3:   Projects which provide student and staff facilities to a minimum standard.

Priority 4:    Projects providing desirable curriculum opportunities.

Priority 5:   Projects providing desirable, but not essential, student and staff facilities.

65. NT BGA's must determine the size of grants to be recommended by assessing the maximum contribution a school and its supporting community can make, both in cash and loans.

66. A major factor influencing decisions about grant recommendations and grant levels is the current and anticipated financial situation of the applicant schools. The general rule to be applied in this assessment is that the greater the demonstrated need of the school, the greater will be the level of support provided.

67. The factors that will be considered in assessing a school's ability to contribute to the cost of a project will be:

a) current and predicted enrolment trends, and the way in which these will affect school income;

b) the total private cash income of the school;

c) the current amount of private income which is being used to meet capital costs;

d) the total level of indebtedness of the school;

e) the school's nominated contribution to the particular project;

f) the degree to which new loan arrangements will increase the amount of private income being used for capital costs;

g) the anticipated future needs of the school in terms of capital works and the school's ability to contribute to them. Schools need to be able to demonstrate sound planning in this area; and

h) information and recommendations of visitors to the project and their consultations at school level.

68. In essence, financial need will be assessed based upon a calculation of known factors (see a, b, c, d, and e above) balanced by careful consideration of anticipated factors (see f, g and h above).

In addition, the following general considerations will be taken into account:

a) that, in contributing to additional capital costs, schools must not reduce their private recurrent expenditure;

b) that, where schools claim an incapacity to increase their contribution levels to capital projects, documentary evidence will be required to support this;

69. Because of the nature of the above calculations and their importance for funding purposes, schools will be required to furnish current, accurate, verifiable financial information in documentary form.

70. The NT BGA has determined that all schools are expected to contribute a minimum of a third to the cost of the program unless they are able to show incapacity as noted in b) above.