Home Schooling Consultative Group meeting - 15 October 2025

The Chair welcomed members and acknowledged country.

The Chair also welcomed Carla Maxted who joined the HSCG as a Department Nominee to fill a current vacancy. The Chair advised members that Carla was appointed as per Section 5.1.7 of the HSCG Procedures.

Action arising: Nil. 

Nil.

Actions arising: Nil. 

1. Item 6 from 12 June 2025: Year 12 Certificate of Completion

   The Chair advised that the member has been provided with the opportunity to forward their findings to the Home Schooling unit, and this will then be shared with members when received.

2. Item 8 from 12 June 2025: Provisional registration and current application processing timeframes

   Members were advised that an update regarding this would be provided in agenda item 4.

3. Item 12 from 12 June 2025: General business

• TAFE working group update: Members were advised that updates from the TAFE working group will now be included on the agenda at the next HSCG meeting in December.
• NESA Curriculum Reform Roundtable update: Updates for the Curriculum Reform Roundtable would be provided to members in agenda item 9.

Actions arising: Nil. 

Members were provided with information relating to the number of children registered for home schooling as of 31 August 2025. Members were also provided with information relating to the number of applications received, withdrawn and refused during the same period. Members were also provided with comparison data for the same period in 2024. The data indicates that there has been an increase in the number of children registered for home schooling since 31 December 2025.

Members were also provided with an update regarding the processing of home schooling applications. Since the previous HSCG meeting, the DoE has utilised additional resources, which has seen a significant overall reduction in the processing times of home schooling applications. The Chair noted that reducing the processing times would continue to be a priority.

Members were also advised that the DoE has commenced a significant IT system build specifically for home schooling registration.

Actions arising: Members were advised that they would receive a detailed update regarding the status of the IT system build at the next HSCG meeting.

Members were provided with a link to the NSW Auditor General’s report prior to the meeting. During the meeting, members were provided with a summary of the recommendations from the NSW Auditor General’s report relating to home schooling. Members were also provided with an opportunity to share their comments and feedback regarding the report and its recommendations.

Members were advised that the Department has committed to implementing these recommendations by September 2027 and that the Department will be consulting with the HSCG, as well as the wider home schooling community, as it works to implement the recommendations.

Actions arising: Nil.

Members were informed that the Home Schooling unit has begun creating an External Stakeholder Management Plan. This plan will guide how the Department engages and consults with the homeschooling community across NSW.

Members were given an overview of the steps involved in developing this engagement plan, drawing on models of good engagement practice. They also received a summary of feedback from HSCG members who had volunteered for interviews, sharing their experiences and views on how the homeschooling community has been consulted so far and how it could be consulted in the future.

Members were also advised that the A/Director for Home schooling has already contacted a range of home schooling groups to begin this process of broader engagement and that there are also further plans around how to engage more directly with home schooling families into 2026.

The members provided input into the draft purpose, principles and objectives of the draft plan as well as positive feedback on the planned engagement process.

A draft of the final engagement plan will be presented to the HSCG at a future meeting for review.

Actions arising: Finalise draft of the external engagement stakeholder management plan and presentation to be provided to the HSCG for review. 

Members were informed that the Department is updating the Guidelines for Home Schooling Registration in NSW to align with current Department of Education approaches. The update process will:

• Separate existing information into distinct guidance and implementation documents.
• Address aspects of the Auditor-General (AO) report.

Members were presented with draft versions of these documents, with key changes highlighted, and invited to provide their initial feedback.

It was noted that these drafts will be shared with other stakeholders for consultation at a later date.

Actions arising: An out-of-session meeting will be scheduled prior to the next HSCG meeting to allow members further opportunity to give feedback regarding these updates. 

Due to time constraints, it was agreed that this item would be carried to the next meeting.

Actions arising: This item will be included on the agenda for the next HSCG meeting. 

Due to time constraints, it was agreed that this item would be carried to the next meeting.

Actions arising: This item will be included on the agenda for the next HSCG meeting. 

Members shared feedback from homeschooling families about what they see as differences in how Authorised Persons conduct home schooling assessments.

Actions arising: The Home Schooling Directorate will continue to look for ways to improve consistency in decision-making among Authorised Persons, especially through professional learning conducted during Authorised Person briefings as well as induction processes.