Chapter 1Introduction
Referral of the inquiry
1.1On 27 October 2022, the following matter was referred to the Education and Employment References Committee (committee) for inquiry and report by 22March 2023:
The national trend of school refusal or 'School Can't' – as distinct from truancy – that is affecting primary and secondary school aged children, who are unable to attend school regularly or on a consistent basis, with specific reference to:
(a)the increasing number since the COVID-19 pandemic, of young people and their families who are experiencing school refusal;
(b)how school refusal is affecting young people and their families and the impacts it is having on the employment and financial security of parents and carers;
(c)the impacts and demands of the increasing case load on service providers and schools to support these students and their families;
(d)how relevant state, territory and federal departments are working to monitor and address this growing school refusal challenge; and
(e)any other related matters.
1.2On 9February 2023, the Senate agreed to extend the committee's reporting date to 21 June 2023. On 21 June 2023, the Senate agreed to extend the committee's reporting date to 10 August 2023 to allow the committee to gather data in relation to the impact of school refusal on the educational attainment of students.
Conduct of the inquiry
1.3The committee advertised the inquiry on its website, issued a media statement, and invited submissions from a range of relevant stakeholders, including government agencies, education associations, health service providers, academics, and parent groups by 9 December 2022. The committee subsequently extended the deadline for submissions to 22 March 2023.
1.4The committee received 172 submissions, including 19 confidential submissions and 2 supplementary submissions, which are listed at Appendix 1.
1.5The committee held three public hearings:
Canberra – 22 February 2023;
Melbourne – 23 February 2023; and
Brisbane – 20 April 2023.
1.6A list of witnesses that appeared at these hearings is available at Appendix 2.
1.7Links to public submissions, Hansard transcripts of evidence and other information published by the committee for this inquiry are available on the committee's website.
Acknowledgements
1.8The committee thanks those individuals and organisations who contributed to this inquiry by providing submissions and giving evidence at public hearings.
1.9In addition, the committee particularly wishes to recognise the bravery and candour of the many individuals and families who came forward to share their personal accounts of school refusal and the impact it continues to have on their lives.
Structure of the report and references
1.10The report comprises six chapters, including this introductory chapter which provides background information on school and school attendance in Australia. The remaining chapters are set out as follows:
Chapter 2 provides detail on school refusal, its prevalence (including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic), and its underlying drivers;
Chapter 3 describes the impact of school refusal on students and their families, as well as the demands it places on schools and other service providers;
Chapter 4 explores the need for a national approach to addressing school refusal;
Chapter 5 examines other barriers and opportunities in relation to addressing school refusal; and
Chapter 6 summarises the committee's view on school refusal, including its recommendations.
1.11References in this report to the Committee Hansard for the public hearings are to the proof transcript. Page numbers may vary between proof and official transcripts.
Focus of the report
1.12The committee notes that, in addition to providing evidence about school refusal, a number of participants raised issues relating to school non-attendance, disengagement and detachment more broadly.
1.13While not discounting the importance of these broader issues, or their relationship to school refusal, this report focuses specifically on school refusal—that is, attendance difficulties associated with a level of emotional distress that means students may have trouble going to school or even leaving the house.
1.14Despite the report's contained focus, it is the committee's belief that its recommendations in relation to addressing school refusal have the potential to improve the school experience for all Australian students.
Language used in the report
School refusal
1.15The committee understands that many participants view the term 'school refusal' as misrepresenting a student's absence from school as a deliberate choice.
1.16However, the committee also notes the current lack of consensus around preferred terminology, with participants identifying a range of other terms including (but not limited to) 'school can't', 'school phobia', 'school avoidance', 'attendance anxiety', and/or 'emotionally based school avoidance'.
1.17In line with the formal title of the inquiry—and to avoid pre-empting future decisions in relation to consistent terminology—the committee has chosen to use the term 'school refusal' throughout this report.
The use of identity-first language when discussing autism
1.18The evidence provided to the committee suggests that a significant proportion of students experiencing school refusal are neurodivergent. This includes autistic students.
1.19The committee respects that preferred ways of self-describing are highly personal choices and that there is no consensus in the autistic community about the use of identity first (i.e., autistic person) or people first (i.e., person with autism) language.
1.20For this inquiry, the committee has used identity first language. This aligns with the language used in the report of the Senate Select Committee on Autism during the 46th parliament.
Schooling in Australia
1.21Under Australia's constitutional arrangements, the responsibility for providing school education rests with state and territory governments. Within their respective jurisdictions, these governments establish and manage government schools and register non-government schools. While the Australian Government does not operate schools, it is a significant funder of schools and plays a role in determining national education policy.
1.22According to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), in 2021 there were 9581 schools in Australia. Of these, 69.8 per cent were government schools, while 30.2 per cent were (mostly religious) non‑government schools, with Catholic schools accounting for 18.4 per cent of schools and independent schools making up the remaining 11.8 per cent.
1.23Schools in Australia can be primary schools, secondary schools or a combination of both. Secondary schools can provide for all secondary year levels or can be divided into junior and senior campuses.
1.24For students with disability and other special needs, education is provided via mainstream school settings, as well as government and non-government special schools (in some states and territories). Special schools include special assistance schools, which are non-government schools that primarily cater for students with social, emotional or behavioural difficulties.
1.25Distance education is available for students who are geographically isolated or unable to attend a local school. Students may also be home-schooled if they meet the relevant criteria set by the state or territory education authority.
School attendance in Australia
Compulsory schooling
1.26While most children start school between the ages of 4.5 years and 5.5 years, attendance does not become compulsory in most Australian states and territories until six years of age, with a minimum school leaving age of 17years—noting that alternative work and study arrangements are possible after Year 10.
1.27Through the National School Reform Agreement, all governments have agreed to a high-level outcome in relation to student engagement in schooling. Progress toward this outcome is tracked via a sub-outcome which aims to 'increase the proportion of students attending school 90 per cent or more of the time, including students from priority equity cohorts'.
Data collection and reporting
1.28ACARA is responsible for national data collection and reporting in relation to individual schools, as reported on the My School website. This includes data on attendance, which is provided to ACARA by state and territory education departments (for government schools) and the Australian Government Department of Education (for non-government schools).
1.29There are two key performance measures (KPM) for school attendance in Australia. These are the attendancerate and the attendancelevel, which are defined as:
Attendance rate – the number of actual full-time equivalent student-days attended by full-time students in Years 1–10 in Semester 1 as a percentage of the total number of possible student-days attended in Semester 1; and
Attendance level – the proportion of full-time students in Years 1–10 whose attendance rate in Semester 1 is equal to or greater than 90 per cent.
School attendance over time, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
1.30Figures 1.1 and 1.2 (below) illustrate student attendance rates and levels from 2014 and 2015 to 2022, noting that 2020 data was not published due to inconsistencies in the data arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
1.31While these figures point to a slight downward trend in attendance rates prior to 2021, they also show a significant decline between 2021 and 2022. During this period, the attendance rate dropped from 90.9 per cent to 86.5 per cent and the attendance level dropped from 71.2 per cent to 49.9 per cent.
1.32However, it should be noted that ACARA attributes the decline in the 2022 figures to the impact of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, high influenza season outbreaks, and flooding in regions across Australia at the time of data collection.
1.33ACARA also urges caution in interpreting lower attendance rates in 2021 as consistent with a longer-term trend, as the decline between 2019 and 2021 may have resulted from increased student absences resulting from the continued spread of COVID-19 in 2021—although it notes that periods of lockdown and remote learning were more prevalent in Semester 2, 2021 than during the data collection period (Semester 1, 2021).
Figure 1.1Student attendance rate for students in Years 1–10 in all Australian schools, time series
Source: ACARA, ‘Student Attendance’, National Report on Schooling in Australia—Data Portal, Time Series.
Figure 1.2Student attendance level for students in Years 1–10 in all Australian schools, time series
Source: ACARA, ‘Student Attendance’, National Report on Schooling in Australia—Data Portal, Time Series.
Trends in school attendance
1.34School attendance in Australia varies across years of schooling and by geographical location and school sector. There is also a gap in school attendance between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students.
Attendance by year of schooling
1.35While attendance declines between Year 3 and Year 10, the biggest falls occur in secondary school (between Year 7 and Year 10). For example, in 2022, the attendance rate and level for Year 7 students was 87.3 per cent and 52.7 per cent respectively. For Year 10 students, the comparable rate and level was 82.9percent and 41.6 per cent.
Attendance by geographical location
1.36School attendance also declines as geographical remoteness increases. In 2022, the attendance rate and level for students in Years 1–10 in very remote areas was 63.1 per cent and 19.7 per cent respectively. This compares with 87.5 per cent and 52.4 per cent for students in Years 1–10 in major cities.
School sector
1.37In general, attendance is highest in the independent sector and lowest in the government sector. In 2022, the attendance rate and level for independent schools was 88.8 per cent and 55.6 per cent respectively. For government schools, these figures were 85.6 per cent and 48.2 per cent. The attendance rate and level for Catholic schools was 87.5 per cent and 50.5 per cent.
1.38However, these headline figures can mask sectoral variations across states and territories (see Figure 1.3 below). For example, in 2022, the Catholic sector had the highest level of attendance in Western Australia but the lowest attendance levels in both the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT). Similarly, despite the government sector having the lowest attendance levels nationally, its attendance levels were higher than those of the Catholic sector in Victoria, South Australia, the ACT and the NT.
Indigenous students
1.39The data also shows differences in school attendance between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. For example, in 2022, the attendance rate and level for Indigenous students was 74.5 per cent and 26.6 per cent respectively, compared with 87.4 per cent and 51.5 per cent for non-Indigenous students.
Figure 1.3Student attendance level by state/territory and sector, Years 1–10, 2022
Source: ACARA, ‘Student Attendance’, National Report on Schooling in Australia—Data Portal, School Sector by State/Territory.
Lapses in attendance
1.40International literature suggests that the generally accepted threshold for absenteeism is 10 per cent. This threshold is reflected in Australia's school attendance KPMs and equates to approximately 20 absent days per year.
1.41Current attendance KPMs do not provide an insight into the reasons for non‑attendance, nor do they include young people who are disengaged from education—that is, not enrolled in a formal education program. In 2019, the number of young people not enrolled in any type of formal education was conservatively estimated at 50 000.
1.42Attendance reporting also excludes students who are home schooled but not also formally enrolled in a course of study at school, including through distance education.
1.43More recently, there have been suggestions that the threshold for 'problematic' attendance should be determined by its impact on functioning, rather than an across-the-board threshold.