At 31 December 2019, there were
6072 children in
3808 households registered for home schooling in Victoria.
The number of children registered for home schooling in Victoria is growing gently year-by-year.
We register children for home schooling in Victoria under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 and the Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017.
There is no national register for home schooling. Each state and territory has its own registration procedures.
Home schooling registration in Victoria
Graph 1: Number of home schooling registrations and households with at least one child registered
Home schooling registrations grew 5.7% cent in 2019.
This means the ratio of registered children per household has been consistent over the last 5 years.
New home schooling regulations commenced in 2018. Recent growth began in the years preceding the new regulations.
Graph 2: Applications for home schooling, 1 January–31 December 2019
In 2019, we received 1882 applications for home schooling. We assessed and approved 1788 applications. At the end of the reporting period, we were still working with some families to understand their needs and finalise their applications.
For more data about applications, registrations and reviews in 2019, see:
Home schooling students
Graph 3: Age of Victorian children registered for home schooling at 31 December 2019
Children of compulsory school age (6-17 years) must either be enrolled in a school or be registered with us for home schooling.
We register 5 year olds who turn 6 in the year their home schooling commences.
Although children can be registered for home schooling until they turn 18, the number of home schooled children decreases in the senior secondary age group. This may be because they transition to other educational pathways. Children who are home schooled cannot be awarded a secondary school qualification, such as the VCE or VCAL or International Baccalaureate. These qualifications can only be awarded by a registered school or education provider.
Graph 4: Gender of children registered for home schooling in Victoria at 31 December 2019
Male participation in home schooling is slightly higher than female.
(a) This information is collected at the time of registration. We added an option for self-described gender to the home schooling registration form in 2019.
Home schooling households
Chart 1: Location of home schooling households at 31 December 2019 compared to location of Victoria's general population
(b): Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016
Around half of Victoria's home schooling households are located in rural and regional areas.
A higher proportion of home schooling households are located outside Melbourne compared to the general population.
Within Melbourne, many home schooling households are in the outer suburbs where there are large numbers of young families.
See also: