12. Legislative basis for registration

Under the Act, home schooling is defined as education delivered in a child’s home, other than distance education provided by a government or registered non-government school in which the child is enrolled. As long as the requirements for home schooling registration continue to be met, including that the program is delivered primarily in the child’s home, parents have flexibility about when and how they provide the educational program to their child or children.

The Act provides for the Minister for Education, or the Minister’s delegate, to register children for home schooling. The Minister has delegated this authority to NESA.

NESA is responsible for administering the provisions of the Act for home schooling registration. The Guidelines describe NESA policies for home schooling registration.

The Act provides that a parent may apply for home schooling registration. The applicant parent may choose to withdraw their application by advising NESA in writing.

Children who are registered for home schooling receive a certificate of registration specifying the child’s home address. Parents may use the certificate as evidence that the child is registered should such evidence be required.

Under the Act, the maximum period of home schooling registration is 2 years.

For home schooling registration, the parent is responsible for preparing and delivering the child’s educational program and assessing the child’s progress.

Under the Act, home schooling registration is for children residing in NSW.

Children of compulsory schooling age who are not registered, must be enrolled in a government or registered non-government school. For specific information about compulsory schooling obligations, contact the NSW Department of Education.

Curriculum

The Act determines the minimum curriculum for all students in NSW.

The curriculum is comprised of various NESA syllabuses relating to key learning areas and subjects for different stages of learning. Sections 7 to 10 of the Guidelines provide information about the curriculum required by the Act.

Compulsory school age

The Act determines the compulsory school ages for children in NSW. These are from the age of six years until the completion of Year 10 (or equivalent) or turning 17 years of age, whichever occurs first.

Under the Act, if a child has completed Year 10 but has not yet turned 17 years of age, the child continues to be of compulsory school age until turning 17 years of age.

A child in this circumstance must:

• be registered for home schooling, or
• be enrolled in and attend a school, or
• be participating on a full-time basis in approved education or training, or
• if the child is over 15 years of age, be in paid work on a full-time basis, or
• be in a combination of approved education or training or paid work for the equivalent of a full-time basis.

Participation in a full-time apprenticeship or traineeship or the completion of a vocational Certificate II course delivered by TAFE NSW are equivalent to the completion of Year 10.

Authorised Persons

Under the Act, an Authorised Person for the purpose of home schooling registration is a person authorised to make recommendations to NESA regarding applications for home schooling registration. NESA employs Authorised Persons in all regions across NSW.

The Authorised Persons Handbook (PDF 430.03KB) available on the home schooling section of the NESA website provides information about the role of Authorised Persons.

Exemption from registration

The Act provides that a parent wanting to home school a child may object to the child being registered. Under the Act, the objection may be accepted if the objection is made on conscientiously held religious grounds and if the child would otherwise have been registered. In order to determine whether the child would otherwise have been registered, the applicant must demonstrate that the requirements for registration would be met.

NESA credentials (RoSA and HSC)

The Record of School Achievement (RoSA) and the Higher School Certificate (HSC) are school based credentials. Children who are registered for home schooling are not eligible for these credentials.