Addressing non-attendance at school

We want to hear your views on proposals to improve and strengthen South Australia’s laws for compulsory education.

What's being decided?

The government is planning to change the Education and Children’s Services Act 2019 and associated regulations to assist with ensuring students are enrolled in school, attend the school in which they are enrolled, or participate in an approved learning program.

We want your feedback on a draft amendment bill and regulations.

The proposed changes in the draft bill and regulations include:

  • requiring warning letters to be sent before taking legal action against parents for a failure to enrol their child or to ensure they attend or participate
  • reducing the time parents have to inform the school why their child is absent (3 days instead of 5)
  • enabling Authorised Officers visiting homes to require relevant information about a child's enrolment, not just request it
  • requiring children to be enrolled in a school suitable for their age and education level
  • removing the danger of being affected by an infectious or contagious disease as a valid reason for a child's failure to attend school or participate in an approved learning program
  • clarifying the circumstances in which non-attendance isn't an offence and the types of information parents must provide when requested by the Department for Education.

Additionally, we want your opinion on:

  • whether fines should be introduced for parents who fail to enrol their child in school or ensure they attend
  • whether parents should only have the option to enrol their child in a South Australian school, unless an exception applies or the enrolment has been approved by the Department for Education
  • how we could best support all South Australian students to attend a South Australian School where possible.

Your feedback is important to shape these changes.

Background

Regular school attendance is important for both children and the community. It helps children do well in school and supports their overall wellbeing. Missing school regularly can lead to negative outcomes for children and young people.

There are many reasons why a child might not attend school, this may include valid reasons like sickness, but sometimes children are absent without a valid reason. Parents are legally required to make sure their child goes to school and to notify the school if their child is absent.

Schools have systems to follow up on absences, find out why a child isn't attending, and create plans to help them return. The Department for Education also has special programs to help vulnerable students in government schools.

Most students attend school regularly, but some do not. If a child continues to miss school despite efforts to help, it might be necessary to consider legal action against the parents to address the child's non-attendance.

The new changes aim to improve how the law is enforced to make sure children are enrolled and attending school.

Get involved

Find out more:

Have your say by:

What are the next steps?

We will consider your feedback to finalise the draft Education and Children’s Services (Enrolment and Attendance) Amendment Bill 2025 for Parliament.

We want to hear your views on proposals to improve and strengthen South Australia’s laws for compulsory education.

What's being decided?

The government is planning to change the Education and Children’s Services Act 2019 and associated regulations to assist with ensuring students are enrolled in school, attend the school in which they are enrolled, or participate in an approved learning program.

We want your feedback on a draft amendment bill and regulations.

The proposed changes in the draft bill and regulations include:

  • requiring warning letters to be sent before taking legal action against parents for a failure to enrol their child or to ensure they attend or participate
  • reducing the time parents have to inform the school why their child is absent (3 days instead of 5)
  • enabling Authorised Officers visiting homes to require relevant information about a child's enrolment, not just request it
  • requiring children to be enrolled in a school suitable for their age and education level
  • removing the danger of being affected by an infectious or contagious disease as a valid reason for a child's failure to attend school or participate in an approved learning program
  • clarifying the circumstances in which non-attendance isn't an offence and the types of information parents must provide when requested by the Department for Education.

Additionally, we want your opinion on:

  • whether fines should be introduced for parents who fail to enrol their child in school or ensure they attend
  • whether parents should only have the option to enrol their child in a South Australian school, unless an exception applies or the enrolment has been approved by the Department for Education
  • how we could best support all South Australian students to attend a South Australian School where possible.

Your feedback is important to shape these changes.

Background

Regular school attendance is important for both children and the community. It helps children do well in school and supports their overall wellbeing. Missing school regularly can lead to negative outcomes for children and young people.

There are many reasons why a child might not attend school, this may include valid reasons like sickness, but sometimes children are absent without a valid reason. Parents are legally required to make sure their child goes to school and to notify the school if their child is absent.

Schools have systems to follow up on absences, find out why a child isn't attending, and create plans to help them return. The Department for Education also has special programs to help vulnerable students in government schools.

Most students attend school regularly, but some do not. If a child continues to miss school despite efforts to help, it might be necessary to consider legal action against the parents to address the child's non-attendance.

The new changes aim to improve how the law is enforced to make sure children are enrolled and attending school.

Get involved

Find out more:

Have your say by:

What are the next steps?

We will consider your feedback to finalise the draft Education and Children’s Services (Enrolment and Attendance) Amendment Bill 2025 for Parliament.

  • Addressing non-attendance at school

    We welcome your feedback on draft amendments to the Education and Children’s Services Act 2019 to assist with the enforcement of the laws that promote a child's right to education. 

    This survey asks for your views about some of the specific changes proposed in the draft Education and Children's Services (Enrolment and Attendance) Bill. We recommend you read the Explanatory Guide and the draft Bill and draft regulations before you answer the questions.  

    The survey will take approximately 5 minutes to complete. You can skip a question if you do not want to answer it. 

    Responses to the survey are collected for the purposes of informing the final drafting of the proposed amendments. The results of the survey may be referred to publicly in discussion of the reforms.

    Take Survey
Page last updated: 21 May 2025, 11:58 AM