Arabic version: معلّمو الأطفال في المنزل يطالبون بالاعتراف في التعداد السكاني

According to ABC News, parents who educate their children at home say they were not properly represented in the 2026 Census because “home education” was not available as an answer to a question about schooling. The latest publicly available data from Australia’s jurisdictions shows about 49,000 children are in home education.

Hobart home educator Denise Cox said the census options describing her children’s education were government, Catholic and non-government schools. She said data could reflect the growth of home education nationally and help the broader community and government understand a group that should be represented when decisions are made.

Ms Cox said home education offered flexibility for her children, whose learning and engagement were not suited to the mainstream system. Activities could include woodwork at a local men’s shed, geocaching, volunteering, hiking and structured numeracy and literacy programs. Regulations differ across states and territories, though every jurisdiction requires a child to be registered, or exempted from school attendance in South Australia.

Pavlina McMaster, coordinator of the volunteer-run Home Education Network in west Gippsland, Victoria, said census data could assist local planning by identifying communities with high proportions of home educators. She said it could also show metropolitan, regional and rural distribution, as well as the financial effects on families that reduce work hours. Ms McMaster said government support was “practically non-existent”, while some families may access limited Centrelink assistance or exemptions.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said it tested home schooling as a potential response category but did not include it after assessing a risk to data quality. An ABS spokesperson said no participants selected home education during early testing of possible new census categories, meaning it did not progress to the major test stage. Ms Cox and Ms McMaster said inclusion would acknowledge home education as a legitimate family option and support better resourcing.