Home Schooling Must Be Consistent With Australian Curriculum: New Laws

Donna Eddy helps her son Phoenix with school work at their home on April 09, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

The Queensland government has introduced legislation in parliament mandating that home education is consistent with the Australian government’s curriculum.

This comes amid an almost tripling of students who are been homeschooled in the state since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Education Minister Di Farmer introduced the Education (General Provisions) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 on March 6, which includes amendments related to homeschooling.

Under the proposed changes, students who are schooled at home are required to follow the government’s syllabus for senior subjects.

“The bill sets out that home education programs in Queensland must be consistent with the Australian Curriculum or Queensland syllabus for senior subjects, consistent with approaches in other jurisdictions,” Ms. Farmer said in the Queensland parliament (pdf).

“Since 2019, we have seen a 195 percent increase in the number of students registering for home education.”

The minister noted that more than 10,000 students are currently registered for homeschooling in Queensland.

Ms. Farmer said that given these higher numbers, it is “more important than ever” that students are undertaking a high-quality program.

In addition, she highlighted that the legislation provides “safeguards for student wellbeing.”

“The bill requires a summary of the educational program to be provided at the time of application for home education registration to ensure the child or young person has immediate access to a high-quality program and removes the separate time-limited provisional registration application,” Ms. Farmer told parliament.

“This will provide a single and simplified home education registration process with appropriate oversight by the department.

“Further, the bill removes the need for a certificate of registration and associated obligations, to reduce an unnecessary regulatory burden for parents. Instead, parents will continue to receive a written notice, as they do now, setting out evidence of registration and any conditions on registration.”

Ms. Farmer said the bill establishes a “new guiding principle” emphasising that home education “should be in the best interests of the child or young person.”

“This must take into account the child’s safety, well-being, and access to a high-quality education. This amendment was included in the bill after public consultation on home education amendments was completed,” Ms. Farmer said.

“Using a guiding principle which makes explicit that a child or young person’s best interests must be central to the significant choice of home education is something I am confident Queensland families and home educators will support.”

After being introduced to parliament, the bill was referred to the Education, Employment, Training, and Skills Committee without debate.

Home Education Australia Responds

Home Education Australia spokesperson Samantha Bryan raised concerns with AAP that the mandate may lead to more parents taking home education underground.

Ms. Bryan also told the publication most families registered with the Home Education Unit are succeeding with homeschooling, even if they are not following the national curriculum.

“If children are already receiving a high-quality education, if the system’s not broken, why are we trying to allegedly fix it,” she said.

Ms. Bryan suggested a dual enrolment option allowing families to combine part-time homeschooling with part-time school attendance.

“Families are making great sacrifices because they desperately love and care about the wellbeing of their child,” she said.

“Some of these families would love to put their kids back in school so I think a dual enrolment option—part-time home education, part-time school— would be great.”

How Will Homeschooling Work?

Under the legislation, parents will need to provide evidence of educational progress of the child during annual reporting.

“The bill clarifies that annual reporting by the parent must include evidence of the educational progress of the registered child and requires that where an application for registration is made within 12 months of the child’s previous registration ceasing for any reason, the application must also be accompanied by a written report that evidences the educational progress for the child during the previous registration,” Ms. Farmer said.

James Laurie, aged 8, is assisted in his online work by his mother Ms. Laurette as he continues homeschooling in London, on Jan. 25, 2021. Leon Neal/Getty Images

“The bill extends the age eligibility to enable a child to be registered for home education until 31 December in the year the child turns 18, consistent with the schooling sector.

“These amendments ensure the best interests of the child or young person are central to the decision-making about their own education, and aligns the educational journey of young people being homeschooled with the wider educational framework adopted in all states and territories of Australia.”

Gender Language Removed

In addition to homeschooling, the bill included a broad range of reforms impacting Queensland children, families, teachers, and school support.

The bill also removes the use of gendered language including “he, she, his, him” and “her.”

“The use of gendered language in the Education General Provisions Act does not align with contemporary practice and approaches to gender and sex,” the proposed law states (pdf).

AAP contributed to this report.