ACT

Homeschooling is legal in the ACT. To be registered for home education in the ACT, your child needs to be aged between 6 and 17 years of age, and live, or usually live, in the ACT.  You can begin homeschooling once you have submitted your application to the ACT Dept.

How to apply for Home Education Registration in ACT

Parents must submit: 

  • a completed registration form (available by contacting the Home Education team by email - HomeEd@act.gov.au)
  • a certified copy of proof of parental responsibility (child’s birth certificate or Medicare/health care card)
  • a certified copy of proof of the child’s identity (child’s birth certificate or passport)
  • a certified copy of proof of ACT residence (i.e. both sides of an ACT driver’s licence, a rental agreement, or a utility bill.

(Note: rates notice, phone bill or other registration notification cannot be accepted as proof of ACT residency)

Once the application is submitted, it can take up to 28 days to be approved.

You can start homeschooling from the date you submit the application. The Home Education Team will send a receipt of your completed application via email.

You will need to let your child’s school know that you are registering for home education and withdrawing from school.

You are required to submit a Statement of Intent within the first three months of home education registration. You can choose to submit the Statement of Intent with your application.

Once registration has been approved, you will receive a registration certificate for each child. The certificate contains information on important dates, including the due date for submitting the Statement of Intent.

Videoconference

Within the first three months of registration, you will also be invited to attend a videoconference with an ACT Education Directorate Authorised Person.

The ACT Education Directorate Authorised Person will discuss the Statement of Intent and your plans for home education.

There will also be an opportunity to discuss ways to meet the needs of individual children while being compliant with the conditions of registration. Home education registration is for up to two years.

Statement of Intent

After submitting your completed registration form, you have three months to submit a Statement of Intent.

This statement must include:

  • how you will provide a high-quality education for your child
  • the educational opportunities you will offer your child and the strategies you will use to encourage your child to learn
  • how the plan or approach for your child’s home education will deliver an education consistent with the principles mentioned in the Act, section 128 (d).

These principles state that home education is committed to:

  • providing a broad range of opportunities that foster the development of your child’s unique spiritual, emotional, physical, social and intellectual being
  • valuing the individual needs, interests and aptitudes of your child; and
  • preparing your child to become an independent and effective local and global citizen.

The Home Education Directorate offers an optional template for the Statement of Intent.

https://www.education.act.gov.au/schooling/home-education

Renewal process

If you wish to renew the home education registration of your student/s, you must apply for renewal at least three months before their current registration ends. You can find this date written on your child’s home education registration certificate.

If you are unable to apply for registration renewal three months prior due to extenuating circumstances, you can request in writing that the application be considered outside of the legislated timeframe.

To apply for home education registration renewal, you must submit:

  • a completed registration renewal form
  • a written statement
  • certified proof of parental responsibility (this is generally your child’s birth certificate)
  • a copy of the most recent home education report

Under the Education Act 2004 and Education Regulations 2005, registration renewal may be approved without a meeting with an ACT Education Directorate Authorised Person.

For example, approval without a meeting may be made where you have provided clear evidence of full compliance with the conditions of registration (including the home education report requirements) as part of the application.

The Home Education team will let you know if a meeting is required.

Home education report

You must submit a home education report for each registered child once a year, by no later than 31 December.

This report should detail the progress students have made in the areas of intellectual (including literacy and numeracy), social/emotional and physical development.

Optional templates are available from the Home Education Team, but you are welcome to provide a report in your own format.

Parents can request support from the Home Education Liaison Officer when writing their home education reports. To request a copy of the optional template or organise a phone call or videoconference, email the Home Education team at HomeEd@act.gov.au.

Part-time school attendance

The Education Act 2004 allows you to register your children for home education or enrol them in a public school or registered non-government school, or both. This is considered a part-time registration and needs to be discussed with the school.

A successful part-time agreement often depends on good communication between the school and the parent.