From the end of July 08 this website will no longer be updated but will remain online as an archive.
For current information about home education in Australia please visit the Home Education Association of Australia.
While there, please consider joining this vital support network that works hard to promote home education in Australia.
Please note that Beverley Paine is unavailable to answer telephone and email inquiries, etc. Please join a support group in your state.

Home education is a legal alternative to school education in Australia. State governments are responsible for regulating home education.
Different states have different requirements, however homeschooling families are able to develop curriculum and learning programs
to suit the individual needs of their children.

© Beverley Paine

Please note: all information is opinion supplied on this website is provided by a lay-person, untrained in law, and is offered in good faith: it may not be accurate or up-to-date and you are strongly urged to seek legal advice from a qualified practitioner for your particular situation.

"What happens if the officials find out that you are not registered, am I looking at a fine or something?"

In South Australia when families who are not registered finally decide to register they simply register. In my two decades of homeschooling experience I have not heard of anyone being fined.

In most cases the registration process is a lot easier than those who register when they first begin to home educate, as they have already accumulated considerable 'evidence' that the children are learning well at home (provided the family has been keeping some kind of records of the learning journey). They are also a lot more confident that homeschooling works and in their own ability to teach their children at home.

Refusal to register is usually followed up with threats of legal action. In some states this is often all that happens, usually because it's either too much trouble to chase anything other than abuse cases, or because the authority knows that the law is not clear enough to support their case.

It is best to talk to local homeschoolers about the legal requirements in your state. You can do this by contacting either the Home Education Association http://hea.asn.au (they have a list of contacts on their website) or your state homeschool organisation.

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