Australia   August 2009

Home education is a legal alternative to school based education in all states and territories of Australia. Regulations and legislation is different between states which can cause confusion, so it is important to seek out current information for the state in which you live.

You will find information and articles with links about legally home educating in Australia on the Home Education Association web site: http://hea.asn.au/resources/default.asp?type=4.
There are No exceptions to this rule.
   
Getting permission to home educate:

  • Applications can be made to the authority that regulates home education in each state and territory of Australia
  •  Most states require an annual review, some allow two years before review.

curriculum control of home educators:

Most states require that families cover ‘essential learning’ or ‘key’ areas. Some states require families to follow state curriculum guidelines. A national curriculum is currently being developed but it is unclear if all schools, public and private, and home educators, will have to comply with it.

Monitoring of home educators:

There is no national monitoring of home education by the federal government. Each state and territory has jurisdiction of the regulation of home education. In some states there are ‘advisory councils’ that include experienced home educators, in other states ‘home education units’ or offices within the state education department oversee applications.

Do authorities tend to Overstep their legislative powers?

Inexperience and ignorance about the nature of home education by officers assessing applications for registration gives rise to inconsistencies in how different families are treated. Ambiguities within the legislation together with regulations and policies which are open to interpretation generally favour the regulatory body. In most states there is no formal or independent appeals process.

All states and territories require parents to write a learning program (curriculum), to demonstrate how the program will be evaluated, and allow provision for appropriate social interaction with other children. However, the implementation of home education regulatory policies is influenced by the experience and perspective of the officer working on the application, often employed by the state school system which presents an obvious conflict of interest that has yet to be resolved in most states. The resulting inconsistency in how home educating applications are processed and how families are treated in an ongoing contentious issue within the home education community. Families are advised to research local state requirements via the many homeschool networks in Australia before they contact educational authorities for information.

Any imminent changes to the law that are likely to effect home educators?

The Education Acts in each state and territory are regularly reviewed (at least every 10 years). This means that somewhere in Australia home education regulations are under review. The states and territories work independently and although they consider what is happening elsewhere (including New Zealand and the UK) they tend to go their own way.

HE Numbers:

It is estimated that up to 80,000 children are home educated in Australia, with many families choosing not to register formally as home educators. The reasons for not registrating are many. Families interested in teaching their children at home should make contact with local and regional home educating families to find out the local requirements.

Support

There are support groups and contacts, as well as regional organisations, throughout Australia. The home educating movement in Australia is still very young and it can be difficult to find like-minded compatible families nearby.

See  Support Groups