But what do I teach my child? How will I know? Is there a road map or GPS? Relax, there is quite a lot of information provided by each registration jurisdiction across Australia to help you get started with the paper work and road map.

Start with the Australian Curriculum

In all states and territories across Australia, there are links to the State or Territory version of the Australian Curriculum on the state or territory home education pages. When registering you generally refer to your state or territories’ version of the Australian Curriculum however in Tasmania for example you only need to develop a plan that includes subject areas and how you will cover those areas. Go to the registration body in each area to find out more:

• NSW – NESA New South Wales Education Standards Authority
• ACT – AED Australian Education Directorate
• QLD – HEU Home Education Unit
• VIC – VRQA Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority
• TAS- OER Office of Education Registra
• SA – SADE South Australian Department of Education
• WA – WADE Western Australian Department of Education unfortunately the link to the home education site appears to be down, they have been notified. (sigh)
• NT – Northern Territory Government

Click through the links to find the link of each curriculum and learn the broad areas you are required to have in your Individual Learning Plan (ILP) for each child. This ILP may be over different stages and not all within a single “grade” level. The joy of home education is that the learning plan can adjust to where your child is, rather than what grade their age may place them if in a school.

In general, focus on reading, writing and arithmetic for the primary education years, and then in secondary levels with elective subjects to focus on their interests and special skills to help them develop those skills further. English is a focus for the whole of the child’s education, with maths, geography/history, and science as the core subjects. The other subject areas are at the child and educators’ discretion within the rules for choosing elective subjects of your education region.

For the more stringent home ed registration states in Australia, generally, a cut and paste of each Key Learning Area (KLA) stage statements into a word document with a list of resources or strategies you intend to use for the next registration period, will suffice for the learning plan prior to the home visit in the states and territories where they have them.

In South Australia, when applying for home education, it isn’t called registration due to differences in the Education Act. In SA you need to apply for exemption from school after you register your child at your local school as a student. This process is managed by the principal of the school.

If you have not registered for home education, and somehow the Government becomes aware of this, they will simply contact you and ask you to register or apply for exemption. There are no direct penalties for not registering your child for home education across Australia. If you persist with not registering your child for home education against the directions of the registering body, then the most drastic scenario is that you could be charged with educational neglect. However, this is very rare in Australia with regards to home education.

There is no registration body, that will try to match the ILP with the parent written report upon re-registration the next time. Life happens and learning needs change. The learning that occurred may resemble in a very limited way the learning plan you were initially registered under. Just keep some basic records as you go across the curriculum areas of your child’s educational experiences and the re-registration process will be successful. 

Ed Consult. Supporting Home Educators Across Australia.