Education in Australia encompasses the sectors of early childhood education (preschool and pre-primary) and primary education (primary schools), followed by secondary education (high schools and senior high schools), and finally tertiary education, which includes higher education (universities and other higher education providers) and vocational education (registered training organisations). Regulation and funding of education is primarily the responsibility of the States and territories; however, the Australian Government also contributes to funding.
Education in Australia is compulsory between the ages of four, five, or six and fifteen, sixteen or seventeen, depending on the state or territory and the date of birth.
Timeline of introduction of Compulsory education
1871: 1872: 1875: 1880: 1900: 1916:
For primary and secondary education, government schools educate approximately 64 per cent of Australian students, with approximately 36 per cent in non-government schools. At the tertiary level, the majority of Australia's universities are public, and student fees are subsidised through a student loan program where payment becomes due when debtors reach a certain income level, known as HECS. Underpinned by the Australian Qualifications Framework, implemented in 1995, Australia has adopted a national system of qualifications, encompassing higher education, vocational education and training (VET), and school-based education. For primary and secondary schools, a national Australian Curriculum has been progressively developed and implemented since 2010.
In 2012 Australia was ranked as the third-largest provider of international education after the United States and the United Kingdom.
In the 2022 PISA study by the OECD Australian students placed 18th in the world in reading, 25th in maths and 21st in science.
However, the Education Index, published with the UN's Human Development Index in 2018, based on data from 2017, listed Australia as 0.929, the second-highest in the world.
Regulation, operation, and funding
The regulation, operation, and funding of education is the responsibility of the states and territories, because the Australian Government does not have a specific constitutional power to pass laws with concerning education. However, the federal government helps to fund non-government schools, helps to fund public universities, and subsidises tertiary education through a national student loan scheme, and regulates vocational education providers.
Post-compulsory education is regulated within the Australian Qualifications Framework, a unified system of national qualifications in schools, vocational education and training, and the tertiary education sector.
The Australian Government's involvement in education has been the responsibility of several departments over the years, with the Department of Education, Skills and Employment being formed in 2020.
The academic year in Australia varies among states and institutions; however, it generally runs from late January/early February until early/mid-December for primary and secondary schools and TAFE colleges, with slight variations in the inter-term holidays,For Western Australia, see: For New South Wales: For South Australia: For the Northern Territory: For Victoria For the ACT: For Queensland: For Tasmania and from late February until mid-November for universities, with seasonal holidays and breaks for each educational institute.
Research published during February 2026 found that high school in Australia costs almost four times more than the OECD average, making it the most expensive developed country in the world in terms of average annual high school tuition.
Preschool Government provision in Australia during the years before children start school is a relatively recent innovation. Historically, preschool and pre-prep programs in Australia were relatively unregulated, and children were cared for in informal ways by baby-sitters and by members of their families and close associates. While still not mandatory for children to attend, the Federal Government has had a focus since 2009 on encouraging families to enroll their children (from around 4 years of age) in a preschool or kindergarten that delivers quality early childhood education and care. Federal and state legislation requires preschool services to implement and deliver programming based on the nationally approved Early Years Learning Framework, implemented from 2009. The first exposure many Australian children have to learn with others outside of traditional parenting is daycare or a parent-run playgroup. This sort of activity is not generally considered schooling, as preschool education is separate from primary school in all states and territories except Western Australia—where pre-school education is taught as part of the primary school system—and Victoria, where the state framework, the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF) covers children from birth to eight years old, is used by some schools over the national framework. In Queensland, preschool programs are often called Kindergarten or Pre-Prep and are usually privately run but attract state government funding if run for at least 600 hours a year and delivered by a registered teacher.
Preschools are usually run by the state and territory governments, except in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales where they are more often run by local councils, community groups or private organisations. Preschool is offered for children ages three to five; attendance numbers vary widely between the states, but 85.7% of children attended preschool the year before school, the main year of preschool attendance. This year is far more commonly attended and may take the form of a few hours of activity during weekdays. Most states of Australia now fund government preschools to offer 15 hours per week (600 hours over a year) for each enrolled child in the year before they commence formal schooling
Primary and secondary education
, 4,160,918 students were enrolled in 9,673 primary, secondary and special schools in Australia. , government schools educated 62.8% of all students, while Catholic schools (20%) and independent schools (17.2%) educated the rest. , there were just under 325,190 full-time equivalent (FTE) teaching staff in Australian primary and secondary schools. The major part of government-run schools' costs is met by the relevant state or territory government. The Australian Government provides the majority of public funding for non-government schools, which is supplemented by states and territories.
Non-government schools, both religious or secular typically charge compulsory tuition and other fees. Government schools provide education without compulsory tuition fees, although many government schools ask for payment of 'voluntary' fees to defray particular expenses.
Regardless of whether a school is government or non-government, it is regulated by the same curriculum standards framework. The framework is administered by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. Most schools require students to wear prescribed school uniforms. A school year in Australia typically starts in January/February and finishes in December.
Compulsory attendance requirements School education in Australia is compulsory between certain ages as specified by state or territory legislation. Depending on the state or territory, and date of birth of the child, school is compulsory from the age of five to six to the age of fifteen to seventeen.
In the ACT, NSW, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia, children are legally required to attend school from the age of six years old, until the minimum leaving age. In Tasmania, the compulsory school starting age is 5 years old. However, most children commence the preliminary year of formal schooling, in Pre-Year 1, between four and a half and five and a half years of age, variously called kindergarten (sometimes called Year K), reception, preparation (also abbreviated as "prep"), transition, or foundation.
, the national year 10 to year 12 apparent retention rate (ARR), a measure of student engagement that provides an indicator of the success of education systems in keeping students in school beyond the minimum leaving age, was 81.3 per cent for all full-time students in Year 12.
Australian Curriculum
While state and territory governments are responsible for the regulation and delivery of school-based education within their jurisdiction, through the Council of Australian Governments, the Commonwealth Government has, since 2014, played an increasing role in the establishment of the Australian Curriculum that sets the expectations for what all young Australians should be taught, regardless of where they live in Australia or their background. The development of the Australian Curriculum is based on the principles of improving the quality, equity and transparency of Australia's education system. The Australian Curriculum, for pre-Year 1 to Year 9, is made up of English, maths, science, social studies, arts, technology, health education and foreign languages. In the senior secondary Australian Curriculum, for Year 10, Year 11 and Year 12, fifteen senior secondary subjects across English, maths, science, history and geography were endorsed between 2012 and 2013. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority has mandated the achievement standards that describe the quality of learning (including the depth of understanding, the extent of knowledge, and the sophistication of skill) expected of students who have studied the content for each subject.
Types of schools The types of schools in Australia fall broadly into two categories: government schools, being those schools operated by state or territory departments or agencies; and non-government schools, being those schools that are not operated by government departments or agencies. Non-government schools can be further classified, based on self-identification of the school's affiliation. Non-government schools are grouped for reporting as Catholic schools (including Catholic-affiliated private schools) or private (other non-government schools).
Government schools receive funding from the relevant state or territory government. Non-government schools receive funding from the Australian Government and relevant state or territory government; and in most cases, parents are required to make a co-payment for their child's education.
across primary and secondary education, approximately two-thirds of all school students attended government schools; with the remaining one-third of students educated in non-government schools.
A small portion of students are legally home-schooled, particularly in rural areas. Part of these students supplement their education with the School of the Air, an Australian government education programme to provide access to primary and secondary education for children in remote areas. Beginning in 1951 this programme initially operated through radio broadcasts, however telephone classes teaching replaced these broadcasts in 2005. From 2007 to 2009, online classes and resources were rolled out and became the primary method of learning
Scholar performance According to the 2022 PISA evaluations, Australian 15-year-olds ranked ninth in the OECD for reading and science and tenth for maths. However, less than 60% of Australian students achieved the National Proficiency Standard – 51% in maths, 58% in science and 57% in reading.
School years Primary schools