From the end of July 08 this website will no longer be updated but will remain online as an archive.
For current information about home education in Australia please visit the Home Education Association of Australia.
While there, please consider joining this vital support network that works hard to promote home education in Australia.
Please note that Beverley Paine is unavailable to answer telephone and email inquiries, etc. Please join a support group in your state.

Home education is a legal alternative to school education in Australia. State governments are responsible for regulating home education.
Different states have different requirements, however homeschooling families are able to develop curriculum and learning programs
to suit the individual needs of their children.

© Beverley Paine

"My son is 17 and has been working casual work since on a part time basis but, we have agreed that he needs to get back into the education system and feel that homeschool would be ideal." Amy

I think young people of this age would benefit most from enrolling in distance education - either through the state public school system or through TAFE.

Your son can pick up year 11 and 12 subjects and work towards his high school certificate in his own time and at his own pace in most cases, or work within the college schedule.

Contact your local TAFE institution, or phone the Education Department and ask about distance education. Don't worry about entry criteria at this stage - simply get them to send you as much information as they can. There are usually ways to get around restrictive criteria - the first thing to find out is if this kind of education would suit your son.

here in South Australia we have several adult education colleges that teach yaear 11 and 12 subjects, either on campus or by distance education. I'm sure you will find some in your state in the phone book.

Other homeschoolers have gone straight into university courses such as Open Learning's bridging courses. This is another ideal way to get the qualifications needed for tertiary education. Some kids also sidestep years 10, 11 and 12 and enrol in a TAFE course of their choice, working through Cert 1, 2, 3, 4 and then Diploma, Advanced Diploma and then completing a couple of years of university (if the vocational pathway allows for that).

I recommend reading Grace Llewellyn's The Teenage Liberation Handbook (ask at your local library or bookshop) as it shows many examples of how young people have made the transition from childhood to adulthood and work without needing to go to school.

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