Reform to support improved attendance passes in Parliament

A state-wide overhaul of attendance which will strengthen laws to ensure students attend school, has passed in Parliament today.

Under the South Australian Education and Children Services Act 2019 children of compulsory school and education age (6 to 17 years) must be enrolled and attend a government or non-government school or an approved learning program.

So far, since April 2023, the Department for Education has been working with 165 families, with a total 227 children, following issues of chronic non-attendance or non-enrolment.

Research shows that chronic non-attendance can lead to disengagement at school, poor peer connections, behaviour issues and academic gaps.

When children miss school often, it affects them later in life and can lead to:

• Poor physical and mental health
• Experiences financial or housing insecurity
• More likely to be involved in the criminal justice system.

The changes to the legislation will tighten the legal framework around attendance and enrolment requirements for all South Australian children.

The legislative change includes:

• The introduction of a statutory warning letter sent to parents for failing to enrol a child
• More clarity on the type of information that can be formally requested by the Chief Executive
• A reduction in the timeframe a person responsible for a child must notify the school principal of the reason for an absence – from 5 days to 3 days
• Making it clear authorised officers only need to take all reasonably practicable action to ensure students attend school, to ensure there are not unreasonable impediments to prosecution.

Attendance at schools nationwide fell in the wake of the global COVID pandemic and have been slow to return to pre-2020 levels.

In 2023, the Malinauskas Labor Government established a specialist attendance team to tackle student absenteeism as a response to a trend of student disengagement.

Since then, new attendance data shows a third consecutive improvement in student attendance at public schools in 2025.

The data shows an attendance rate at the end of Term 2 of 87.6 per cent compared with the Term 2 2024 attendance rate of 85.9 per cent – a positive indication that the wellbeing investments in schools and more opportunities to study VET in Schools to keep students engaged is having an impact.

These results come on top of South Australia’s attendance rate in 2024 being higher than the national average for the first time since COVID.

Quotes

Attributable to Blair Boyer

I take non-attendance very seriously and have been very clear in my intention to ensure children are at school and getting the education they deserve.

The Malinauskas Labor Government has made improving attendance a priority – because we know that when students attend school regularly, they achieve better academic results, better mental health outcomes and are far more likely to complete Year 12.

This legislation makes sure we can act when parents or guardians are not supporting their children to go to school, and I thank the many stakeholders who took part in the consultation to ensure we got this right.