New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, obtained for Fairfax Media, shows 45 per cent of Tasmania’s parents earning more than $156,000 per year are now sending their children to government schools.

The change is an 11.4 per cent increase since the 2006 census.

The figures also show a smaller 4.6 per cent increase of high-income parents sending their children to Catholic schools.

Since the 2006 census, there has been a reflective 16.1 per cent decrease in the number of parents sending their children to independent schools.

Independent Schools Tasmania chief executive Tony Crehan said in Tasmania it was “quite common” for high-income parents to send their children to a public school for the child’s primary years before transferring to an independent school for secondary.

He said independent school enrolments monitored by the association remain “relatively steady” in Tasmania and the change in enrolment figures had nothing to do with concerns over quality of education, but rather choices parents made to potentially ease financial pressures.

Mr Crehan said parents choosing to send their child to independent schools did so often following the perception that children would receive greater individual attention and more opportunity.

The 2016 census reported 70 per cent of Tasmania’s students are enrolled in public schools while the remaining 30 attend non-government schools across both the Catholic and independent sectors.

Tasmania’s enrolment numbers in public schools exceeds the national average of 65.4 per cent, the second-highest public school enrolment figure in Australia behind the Northern Territory.

The enrolment change reflects a national shift toward public education by high-income families.