It's the law that children 6 to 17 years old go to school or be home schooled. You are legally responsible for making sure your child goes to school every day.
These must be approved by the department. Parents can be prosecuted if they do not make sure their child goes to school. This means being fined or getting a criminal conviction.
Legislation in every state and territory makes school attendance compulsory from age six to 15 or 16. There is no Commonwealth legislation explicitly enshrining the right to education.
Parents can be fined if a school-age child doesn't go to school, unless there is a reasonable excuse. A reasonable excuse includes: the child lives with parent A and parent B has good reason to believe that parent A is sending the child to school.
New Zealand and Australia — wagging, jigging, ditching, bludging, or skipping school. Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders) spijbelen. United States and Canada — (playing) hooky, ditching, dipping, skipping, cutting (class). Newfoundland and Labrador — pipping off, on the pip. Utah — a sluff commonly refers to a truancy.
Your school will work with you if your child has more than 5 days of unapproved or unexplained days off in a school year. If this does not work, your school might refer your child to a school attendance officer. The school attendance officer will monitor and investigate your child's attendance.
“Others have fallen so far behind in their school work that they've given up.” New data shows attendance at schools across Australia has dropped to below 50 per cent, with two million students skipping more than ten per cent of their classes last year.
The legal leaving age is 17
Your child cannot leave schooling until they are 17 years old. Your child must go to a school campus (or an approved alternative) until they finish year 10. After year 10, your child does not need to go to a school campus.
For grade skipping, ideally you will need to have your child assessed by an educational psychologist who is skilled in working with gifted children. That person will administer an IQ test for your child and provide you with a report. The report may include recommendations for a subject acceleration or a grade skip.
Primary and secondary school are compulsory between the ages of 6 and 16. School education is for 13 years, divided into: primary school for 7 or 8 years, from kindergarten or preschool to year 6 or 7.
The consequences of too many absences are serious not only for students, but also for parents! Schools handle minor truancy with warning letters, parent-teacher conferences and other means. However, in some states, parents can be fined when their kids miss too much school.
Unschooling is 100% legal in all parts of Australia , as long as you go through your states homeschool - registration process and meet the requirements.
Can a teacher search me or my stuff? Teachers can only search you with your permission or if the safety of others is urgently at risk (for example, in order to stop someone else being immediately hurt). If a teacher uses force to search you without your permission, they may be breaking the law.
An action for breach of a Compulsory Schooling Order issued in the Children's Court must be undertaken in the Local Court. Penalties for these offences carry a maximum fine of $11,000.
It is compulsory for children to have commenced school by the time they have turned six years of age. Most children start between four-and-a-half and five-and-a-half years. Children generally attend primary school until they are 11 or 12 years of age. Primary schools offer programs from Foundation to Years 6 or 7.
Once you turn 16, you won't normally be forced to return home by the authorities as long as you've got a safe place to go and you can financially support yourself. If you're under 18 and leave home, the police and Child Safety may investigate the reasons why you left home.
Our policy for repeating a year level
Principals make the final decision about progression or repeating a year level. Where the principal determines that repeating a year level is required for the long-term benefit of the student, the principal will ask for you to consent to your child repeating the year level.
Students most often skip only one grade. For example, you may choose for your child to skip first grade and go straight from kindergarten to second. It's also common for a child to skip second grade, moving from first into third. This single-year skipping keeps the student from feeling too distanced from their peers.
School education (primary and secondary) is compulsory between the ages of six and sixteen (Year 1 to Year 9 or 10). School education is 13 years and divided into: Primary school - Runs for seven or eight years, starting at Kindergarten/Preparatory through to Year 6 or 7.
In New South Wales, you have to go to school from when you turn 6 until you finish Year 10 or turn 17. If you have finished Year 10 but you haven't turned 17 yet, then you need to do one of the following things: do some other form of education or training (like TAFE or an apprenticeship);
There is no law that says what age you can leave home.
You can leave home at any age providing you have a safe place to go to. If you leave home and are considered to be in physical or moral danger then the Police or Department of Child Protection & Family Services may become involved.
Australia. In Australia, Year 10 is the eleventh year of compulsory education. Although there are slight variations between the states, most children in Year 10 are aged between fifteen and sixteen. Year 10 is the final year of compulsory education in Australia.
Truancy might happen for school, friendship or family reasons, or because children want to try something risky. It's important to address truancy early and get children back to school. If you know your child is wagging school, talk with your child first and then seek help from the school.
Most Australian kids bring their lunch
We also know 15% of children arrive at school without lunch or money to spend at the canteen, when families have limited budgets.
Failure is common
Our large study of the prevalence and reasons for academic failure of undergraduate students at an Australian university found 40% failed at least one unit. These students were four times more likely to drop out. And 58% of those who persisted with their studies failed again.