Aussie Homeschooling Hub

Start here

New to home education, or facing your first report? Pick your state or territory for the first things to do. Each section links to the official page, because requirements differ between states and change over time.

Check with your registering authority. This page is general information to help you get oriented. It is not legal advice, and your registering authority makes the decisions about your registration.

Pick your state or territory

Choose a state or territory above to see what to do first.

Queensland

Your registering authority: Queensland Home Education (QHE), part of the Queensland Department of Education.

What to do first

  • Check you can register. QHE says you can register a child who is between 5½ and 18 years old (by 31 December), who is not enrolled at a state or non-state school, and whose parent or legal guardian lives in Queensland.
  • Register with QHE using the steps on their home education page.
  • Know the report rule early. Each year you submit a written report on your child's educational progress, plus an updated educational program summary if your child is continuing. The reporting window opens in the ninth month of registration and the report is due in the tenth. QHE says the due date cannot be extended.
  • Keep work samples as you go. QHE publishes optional templates for work samples and annotations, and you don't have to use them.

Official pages

See what Queensland asks for and how AHH helps

Check with your registering authority. Rules and forms change, and this is a short summary, not legal advice. Use the official pages above, or contact Queensland Home Education, before you act.

New South Wales

Your registering authority: NSW Department of Education (Home Schooling Directorate).

What to do first

  • Register with the NSW Department of Education. To use the department's Home Schooling Platform you need both an email address and a mobile phone number. The department also offers an application form you can email if you prefer not to use the platform.
  • Expect a home visit. An Authorised Person from the department discusses and reviews your educational program with you at your home. The department says the process can take up to 12 weeks from application to certificate, and that it is rare for it to take longer.
  • Your educational program needs to be based on NESA syllabuses.
  • At renewal, the Authorised Person reviews your records of putting the program into practice. The department's records page gives examples such as work samples, outcome records, digital evidence, journalling and annotated samples.
  • Check for changes. The department has drafted a new home schooling registration policy. Consultation closed on 10 August 2026, and the current guidelines stay in effect until the new policy is finalised.

Official pages

See what New South Wales asks for and how AHH helps

Check with your registering authority. Rules and forms change, and this is a short summary, not legal advice. Use the official pages above, or contact NSW Department of Education, before you act.

Victoria

Your registering authority: Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA).

What to do first

  • Complete the VRQA application form and attach proof of your child's name and date of birth and of your parental responsibility. You need a Victorian residential address.
  • Write a learning plan for each child. It explains how you will educate in the eight key learning areas: English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, the Arts, Languages, Health and Physical Education, and Technologies. You decide the content, and you don't have to follow the Victorian Curriculum or any other specific curriculum.
  • Approval can take up to 28 days from a complete application. Children aged 6 to 17 must stay enrolled in a registered Victorian school until the VRQA approves the application.
  • Towards the end of each year the VRQA emails to ask whether you intend to continue for the following year.

Official pages

Check with your registering authority. Rules and forms change, and this is a short summary, not legal advice. Use the official pages above, or contact Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority, before you act.

Western Australia

Your registering authority: WA Department of Education.

What to do first

  • Talk to your child's school before you register. The department says that registering for home education means your child is no longer enrolled at their current school, which matters most if the school is outside your local intake area.
  • Check you are eligible: you live in Western Australia with a current residential address, you are the child's natural or adoptive parent or legal guardian, and you are a permanent Australian resident, a New Zealand citizen or hold a valid visa.
  • After registering, contact your home education moderator to schedule your first evaluation meeting within 3 months. Schedule each annual evaluation at least 21 days before it is due.
  • At an evaluation you provide examples of your child's learning and progress from the past year and details of an intended education program.
  • The department does not provide workbooks, curriculum materials or direct help developing your program.

Official pages

Check with your registering authority. Rules and forms change, and this is a short summary, not legal advice. Use the official pages above, or contact WA Department of Education, before you act.

South Australia

Your registering authority: South Australia Department for Education (Home Education unit).

What to do first

  • South Australia works differently from the other states. Your child stays enrolled in a school, and you apply for an exemption from attendance for the purpose of home education. Your child must keep attending the enrolled school until an exemption has been granted.
  • You can apply to home educate during the compulsory school years (6 to 17 years). The guide says the home education program is required to cover the 8 learning areas as defined by the Australian Curriculum.
  • Read the department's Guide to home education in South Australia first. It explains the conditions, how to apply and how to renew.
  • Start the process by requesting the application form from the Home Education unit through the department's web form.

Official pages

Check with your registering authority. Rules and forms change, and this is a short summary, not legal advice. Use the official pages above, or contact South Australia Department for Education, before you act.

Tasmania

Your registering authority: Office of the Education Registrar (OER).

What to do first

  • In Tasmania you must register as a home educator if you choose to home educate. The Office of the Education Registrar manages registration.
  • A new application is a signed application form plus a separate Home Education Program (HEP) for each child. A renewal uses a Home Education Summary and Program (HESP) for each child.
  • There is no requirement to follow the Australian Curriculum or any particular curriculum. The OER asks you to plan a program that addresses 10 Standards from the Education Regulations 2017.
  • The OER publishes optional templates with guiding questions. You don't have to use them, but it says it will not accept curriculum plans or programs supplied by providers, so write your program in your own words. If you use Plan Builder for Tasmania, treat it as a thinking aid only: the program you submit must be in your own words.

Official pages

Check with your registering authority. Rules and forms change, and this is a short summary, not legal advice. Use the official pages above, or contact Office of the Education Registrar, before you act.

Australian Capital Territory

Your registering authority: ACT Education Directorate (Home Education team).

What to do first

  • By law you must register for home education. Registration is for up to 2 years.
  • You can start home educating as soon as you have submitted a complete application. The directorate says it lets you know within 28 days of receiving a complete application.
  • Submit a Statement of Intent within 3 months of your registration start date. You will also be invited to an online review meeting of about 30 minutes.
  • Each year, submit a Home Education Report by 31 December. It covers your child's progress intellectually (including literacy and numeracy), socially and emotionally, and physically. There is no prescribed format.
  • The directorate encourages you to be aware of the Australian Curriculum but you do not have to use it. It suggests keeping records such as a diary or learning journal, photos or videos, dated workbooks and work samples with notes.

Official pages

Check with your registering authority. Rules and forms change, and this is a short summary, not legal advice. Use the official pages above, or contact ACT Education Directorate, before you act.

Northern Territory

Your registering authority: Northern Territory Department of Education and Training.

What to do first

  • You must apply to the Northern Territory Department of Education and Training for approval. Until your home education curriculum is approved, your child must stay enrolled in a school and keep attending.
  • Approval is valid for one school year and you reapply each year. Families new to home education can apply at any time. Check the page for the current reapplication date for continuing families.
  • Have your documents ready: a birth certificate, 2 to 3 photos of the workspace where your child will learn, and medical or court documents if they apply.
  • Your curriculum program needs to align with Australian Curriculum content description codes, or use the NT template plan. The department says you are responsible for planning, delivering, assessing and keeping evidence of your child's education.

Official pages

Check with your registering authority. Rules and forms change, and this is a short summary, not legal advice. Use the official pages above, or contact Northern Territory Department of Education and Training, before you act.

Before you withdraw your child from school

If your child is finding school too hard right now, the order of steps matters, and it differs by state. These come from the official pages; confirm yours with your registering authority first.

  • Queensland: a child can't be enrolled at a school and registered for home education at the same time. QHE says to tell the school you plan to register, and that your child is provisionally registered from when QHE receives your application.
  • New South Wales: a child who isn't registered for home schooling with a current certificate of registration must be enrolled in and attend a government or registered non-government school. The process can take up to 12 weeks.
  • Victoria and the Northern Territory: your child must stay enrolled (and, in the NT, keep attending) until your application is approved.
  • Western Australia: registering for home education ends your child's enrolment at their current school.
  • South Australia: your child stays enrolled and must keep attending until an exemption has been granted. Once your application is submitted, you can ask the principal for a 4-week exemption from attendance, so home education can start while the application is assessed. If it is granted, your child can start; if not, they keep attending.
  • Tasmania: your child must stay enrolled at school until the Office of the Education Registrar provisionally approves your application.
  • ACT: you can start home educating as soon as you've submitted a complete application.

Your first three steps with AHH

  1. Try the free preview

    One sample week of Wattlewood for Year 1-2, 3-4 or 5-6, with the evidence report included. It's free, it works offline, and Chrome or Edge work best. It's the quickest way to see whether your child can use it.

    Get the free preview (opens in a new tab)

    Not sure which year level to start with? Try the free Where to start check for Maths and English, Years 1-6.

  2. Plan Builder, then Registration Pack

    Both are free.

    • Plan Builder makes state-specific learning plans for all eight states and territories, with PDF export. In Tasmania it is a thinking aid only: the Office of the Education Registrar needs your program in your own words.
    • Registration Pack combines learning plans, certificates and residency evidence into one registration PDF.

    See the free tools

  3. Wattlewood

    When you want work ready for each day and evidence built in, the full app with one year level is a one-time purchase of A$249, with no subscription. Extra year packs are A$139 each and need Wattlewood to run.

    See Wattlewood and prices

There is also a free Home Education Getting Started Checklist. All prices are in Australian dollars.

What AHH helps with, and what it doesn't

It can help you prepare a learning plan (Plan Builder; in Tasmania a thinking aid only), put registration documents together (Registration Pack), have work ready for each day, and keep dated evidence of what your child actually did (Wattlewood).

It doesn't register you, speak for your registering authority, give legal advice, or guarantee that an authority will accept a plan or a record. Your registering authority decides. AHH is not a government body.

Want to see what a record looks like? See the example evidence entries. The first example is the kind the Chore-to-Curriculum Builder and the practice tools export. A Wattlewood task record is simpler: a title, the date, "Completed", the level worked at, and your note or the task's learning objective. You can also read the frequently asked questions.