We recently reviewed the report from The National Trend of School Refusal and Related Matters inquiry, conducted by the Australian Senate’s Education and Employment References Committee, chaired by Senator Matt O’Sullivan. Launched in October 2022, this inquiry explored the rising trend of school refusal and its impacts on students, families, schools, and the broader educational landscape.
Stakeholders were invited to provide input to clarify the complex drivers of this issue, including its implications for educational outcomes and mental health. MissingSchool participated by providing a written submission and presenting in person at the Senate Committee’s invitation. The final report, released in August 2023 on the Australian Parliament House website, contains six chapters that offer a comprehensive analysis of this important topic.
To help you quickly familiarise yourself with the report, we are summarising Chapters 2 to 6 in this blog series (Chapter 1 covers the inquiry’s purpose and scope). We hope these summaries will help guide you to the chapters and sections you may wish to explore in more detail on the report’s webpage sidebar. At the end of the summary below, we have included the full references used from the original report for Chapter 6.
Chapter 6: Committee View
6.1 The committee acknowledges the significant impact of school refusal on young people and their families; more work and research is needed; thanks to all who contributed.
6.2 School refusal profoundly affects young people’s health, wellbeing, self-worth, relationships, and future aspirations; severe cases involve self-harm and suicidal behaviors; impacts can be long-lasting.
6.3 School refusal strains families financially and emotionally, leading to stress, exhaustion, reduced work, and sometimes family breakdowns.
6.4 Young people feel additional anxiety and shame due to the impact on their families; they want to attend school but find it traumatic.
6.5 Disability (especially neurodivergence) and mental health challenges like anxiety are key risk factors; for some, school itself triggers refusal.
6.6 Lack of data makes it hard to determine prevalence, but evidence suggests rising numbers and that this rise started before COVID-19.
6.7 Increased school refusal strains schools and healthcare services; systems are overwhelmed and unresponsive to needs.
6.8 Despite challenges, there are success stories where students reconnect through alternative schooling or supportive educators.
6.9 Solutions shouldn’t rely on luck; systematic, evidence-based approaches are required; need a clear, accepted definition of school refusal to inform interventions.
6.10 Awareness and understanding are low; students and parents feel judged and ashamed, leading to isolation and hindering help-seeking.
6.11 The committee hopes its recommendations will improve educational experiences for all students.
Improving Awareness and Understanding of School Refusal
6.12 Better awareness and understanding were recurring themes.
6.13 Misconceptions (e.g., misbehavior or poor parenting) are common in health and education sectors and the community.
6.14 These misconceptions cause stress and are barriers to support, allowing underlying causes to go unaddressed.
6.15 Lack of understanding leads to poor advice from professionals, worsening trust, anxiety, and school refusal.
6.16 Research-based practices like Collaborative and Proactive Solutions and trauma-informed approaches could improve responses.
6.17 The committee agrees that action is needed to improve awareness among teachers, school leaders, and health professionals.
Recommendation 1
6.18 Education Ministers to task the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) with researching:
- The drivers and prevalence of school refusal in Australia.
- The use, cost, and effectiveness of interventions, including flexible education approaches.
6.19 Research should inform AERO’s advice, future projects, development of national resources (Recommendation 2), and a nationally agreed definition (Recommendation 6).
Recommendation 2
6.20 The Australian Government to collaborate with education authorities to create and promote school refusal resources for parents, teachers, and school leaders once a national definition is set.
6.21 These resources should be informed by AERO’s research.
Early Identification and Evidence-Based Interventions
6.22 Interventions often arrive too late due to:
- Late identification from lack of awareness of early signs, and risk factors like neurodivergence.
- High absence thresholds for program eligibility.
- Models target resources at severe cases rather than prevention.
6.23 School transition points are times of increased risk; schools should focus identification efforts here, especially transitions into kindergarten and between primary and high school.
Recommendation 3
6.24 State and territory governments to review child health screening programs to better identify autism, ADHD, learning disorders, and anxiety early for classroom support.
Recommendation 4
6.25 State and territory education authorities to enhance early identification of students at risk of school withdrawal, especially at transitions, through absence data analysis and screening tools.
6.26 State and territory education authorities to broaden data collection to distinguish between truancy, withdrawal, and refusal.
A National Approach to School Refusal
6.27 Significant support exists for a coordinated national approach, given shared roles of the Commonwealth and state/territory governments in education and health.
6.28 Lack of national data collection hinders understanding of prevalence and underlying causes, and limits research and information sharing.
6.29 Without an overarching framework, resources may focus on severe cases, neglecting prevention.
6.30 To improve data and research requires consistent definitions and a national approach to recording absences, with disaggregation by type, including school refusal.
6.31 The Unique Student Identifier (USI) is crucial for information sharing, identifying at-risk students, building evidence; governments should prioritise its implementation immediately.
6.32 Success depends on parents reporting school refusal and increased staff knowledge; new approaches need accompanying information and adjusted, more nuanced messaging.
6.33 A national action plan can help drive coordinated action and cross-sector collaboration.
6.34 Committee supports using a multi-tiered system of support to guide interventions, allowing local flexibility at a local level.
6.35 Development should involve health professionals, educators, and people with lived experience, especially neurodivergent youth and those disability and mental health challenges.
6.36 The new National School Reform Agreement (NSRA) provides an opportunity to adopt the Productivity Commission’s recommendations to enhance student wellbeing.
Recommendation 5
6.37 State and territory education authorities and the non-government school sector:
- Enhance flexibility in mainstream schools for children experiencing school refusal.
- Facilitate easier access to distance education and homeschooling.
- Provide more alternative and specialist schools for students experiencing school refusal.
Recommendation 6
6.38 Education Ministers develop a national action plan on school refusal within 12 months, informed by AERO’s research (Recommendation 1), including:
- A nationally agreed definition and terminology.
- A consistent approach to recording and reporting absences.
- Agreed messaging on attendance, school refusal, and absence recording.
- A national approach to support parents and students, increasing accessibility and awareness of alternative schooling methods.
- Commitment to prioritise USI implementation and agreement on its use for identifying at-risk students; facilitate information sharing; support research into school refusal.
- National research priorities and information sharing strategy to reduce stigma and support understanding.
- Agreement to use a multi-tiered support system for interventions (implemented locally).
- Clear roles, responsibilities, timelines, KPIs, and evaluation strategies.
6.39 A national plan should be developed collaboratively with health and education professionals, service providers, and those with lived experience, aligning with existing strategies and this inquiry’s recommendations.
6.40 Encourages the National School Reform Agreement review panel to consider these recommendations.
Recommendation 7
6.41 The Australian Government should work with state and territory governments to raise awareness of school refusal in the health sector, focusing on GPs, psychiatrists, psychologists, and allied health, once a national definition is set.
6.42 Supports embedding school refusal training in relevant tertiary education courses and ongoing professional development.
6.43 Encourages AITSL to work with state and territory regulatory authorities towards inclusion of school refusal modules in teacher education and ongoing professional development.
Increasing Focus on Student Wellbeing in Schools
6.44 Student wellbeing is a foundational to academic success.
6.45 Overemphasis on academic achievement driven by ATAR, NAPLAN, and PISA has overshadowed wellbeing.
6.46 A balanced focus between wellbeing and academics could benefit all students, especially those struggling with school refusal.
6.47 The Productivity Commissions similarly recommends an explicit focus on student wellbeing in the next National School Reform Agreement, with annual reporting.
6.48 A systemic focus on wellbeing may reduce overreliance on individual teachers or school leaders to support at-risk students.
6.49 Current attendance messaging is a source of stress for parents dealing with school refusal.
6.50 Messaging should be more nuanced, acknowledging that some students struggle with attendance and that help is available.
Recommendation 8
6.51 State and Territory Education authorities review and update attendance messaging that:
- Reflects a nuanced view that doesn’t alienate families dealing with school refusal.
- Provides information on accessing support for attendance difficulties.
- Recognises that when attendance isn’t possible, tailored educational outcomes through alternative methods should be prioritized for some students
6.52 There is strong support for trauma-informed practices in schools.
6.53 Behaviorist approaches are widely criticised as unsuitable, ignoring underlying distress causes.
6.54 Effective family-school engagement supports students but is inconsistent due to lack of training, time, and support.
6.55 Beyond the training proposed in Recommendation 6, education authorities to collaborate to provide resources supporting trauma-informed practices and effective family engagement.
6.56 Considering teacher workload pressures, this should involve additional specialist staff and cross-state collaboration to maximise limited resources.
Recommendation 9
6.57 Education authorities should develop resources to support trauma-informed practices in schools, implementing best-practice methods to support students.
Recommendation 10
6.58 Education authorities should develop and promote resources to support effective family engagement, including providing specialist family engagement support staff in schools.
6.59 Participants reported instances where schools did not offer or refused to provide necessary adjustments to support students.
6.60 Under the Disability Standards for Education 2005, schools must provide reasonable adjustments to ensure students with disability can access education equally.
6.61 Determining what is ‘reasonable’ is case-specific; some adjustments may not be feasible due to cost or impact.
6.62 Encourages education authorities to build schools’ capacity to make reasonable adjustments.
6.63 Given teacher workload pressures, this should include additional specialist staff and cross-sector collaboration to maximise resources.
Recommendation 11
6.64 Committee acknowledges challenges in obtaining formal disability diagnoses and recommends education authorities work together to build capacity to provide reasonable adjustments in line with the Disability Standards, including additional specialist staff and training in Universal Design for Learning.
6.65 Traditional education delivery doesn’t work for some students experiencing school refusal.
6.66 Greater flexibility (e.g., interest-led learning, part-time attendance, small settings, remote learning, homeschooling) positively impacts student experiences.
6.67 Supports increasing flexibility in mainstream settings and improving access to alternative education options, as demand exceeds supply and parents report access difficulties.
Improving Cross-Sector Collaboration
6.68 Addressing school refusal needs government and education-health sector collaboration; e.g. multidisciplinary teams, co-locating health services in schools, and embedding clinical teams within education departments.
6.69 Workforce pressures may hinder implementation; further work is needed to identify effective models adaptable at local levels.
Recommendation 12
6.70 The Australian Government should collaborate with state and territory governments to identify and promote effective education-health collaboration models for school refusal.
Improving Support for Parents
6.71 Parents are often overwhelmed navigating systems, seeking support, and advocating for their child.
6.72 Parents often rely on word of mouth to learn about options, including education and financial supports.
6.73 There is a need for a central repository of information on school refusal to help parents navigate available options and supports, including financial assistance.
Recommendation 13
6.74 The Australian Government should explore funding sources for an independent peer support network for families and schools dealing with school refusal, improving resources for parents, including a ‘one-stop shop’ for information.
6.75 Recognises the absence of a national school refusal advocacy and support group; encourages consideration of its importance.
Recommendation 14
6.76 Recommends Australian Government consider increasing the number of subsidised mental health care visits for students experiencing school refusal.
The National Trend of School Refusal and Related Matters
We recently reviewed the full report from The National Trend of School Refusal and Related Matters inquiry, conducted by the Australian Senate’s Education and Employment References Committee, and chaired by Senator Matt O’Sullivan. To help you quickly familiarise yourself with the report, we’ve summarised Chapters 2 to 6 in this blog series (Chapter 1 covers the inquiry’s purpose and scope).
Introduction: Parliamentary Library Article on School Refusal
Chapter 2 – School refusal in Australia
Chapter 3 – The impact of school refusal
Chapter 4 – Addressing school refusal: the need for a national approach
Chapter 5 – Addressing school refusal: other barriers and opportunities
Chapter 6 – Committee view
References used in the Chapter 6 summarised above are:
[1]Virtual School Victoria, Submission 62, p. 5.
[3]South Australian Commissioner for Children and Young People, Submission 56, p. 13.
