An Analysis of the Recording, Reporting, and Use of School Attendance Data in Australia

Despite the growing body of literature on school attendance, there is relatively little known about the different approaches that are used to define, record, and report school attendance across countries. This paper seeks to fill this literature gap by providing a policy analysis of how attendance and absenteeism are defined, measured and reported in Australia. This paper explores how school attendance is conceptualised in Australia, with a specific focus on New South Wales where the author resides. The analysis examines what indicators of absence are recorded and how schools along with education authorities make use of this data. The national setting of goals to improve the educational outcomes of all Australian young people has been a driver behind the collection and public reporting of attendance data. This policy analysis highlights the multilateral achievement of the Commonwealth, state and territory governments in Australia to nationally align the collecting and reporting of school attendance data. This has elevated the importance of attendance beyond an administrative task to its current position as a key performance indicator of school effectiveness.

1. Atkinson, P., & Hammersley, M. (1998). Ethnography and participant observation. In N. K. Denzin & Y .S. Lincoln (Eds.), Strategies of qualitative inquiry (pp. 110−136). Sage.

2. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Schools − Data on students, staff, schools, rates and ratios for government and non-government schools, for all Australian states and territories. Australian Government. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/education/schools/latest-release#schools

3. Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2012). National report on schooling in Australia 2012. https://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia-2011/schools-and-schooling/school-structures

4. Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2014). Frequently asked questions about the My School website. Australian Government. https://docs.acara.edu.au/resources/FAQs_2014.pdf

5. Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2020a). Measurement framework for schooling in Australia. Australian Government. https://www.acara.edu.au/measurementframework

6. Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2020b). National standards for student attendance data reporting (3rd ed.). Australian Government. https://www.acara.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/national-standards-for-student-attendance-reporting---third-edition.pdf?sfvrsn=d1ec7007_0

7. Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2020c). Reporting student attendance related to Coronavirus (COVID-19) for STATS 2020. Australian Government. https://www.acara.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/reporting-student-attendance-related-to-covid-19-for-stats-2020.pdf?sfvrsn=6bdf7007_0

8. Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2020d). Guide to understanding the Index of Community Socio-educational Advantage (ICSEA). Australian Government. https://www.myschool.edu.au/media/1820/guide-to-understanding-icsea-values.pdf

9. Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2020e). National Report on Schooling in Australia data portal − Student attendance. https://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia-data-portal/student-attendance

10. Australian Government. (2018). Remote School Attendance Strategy extended to keep kids in school. https://www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/education/remote-school-attendance-strategy

11. Australain Government. (2019). Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration. https://www.dese.gov.au/alice-springs-mparntwe-education-declaration/resources/alice-springs-mparntwe-education-declaration

12. Australian Government. (2021). Student attendance collection data specification 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021, from https://schools.education.gov.au/SchoolsHub/articlehelp/?subjectid=735f2bde-0efc-e811-9158-02720401ef44

13. Baxter, L. P., & Meyers, N. M. (2019). What counts? The influence of school attendance on Australia's urban Indigenous students' educational achievement. The Australian Educational Researcher, 46(3), 511−532. CrossRef

14. Cash, A. H., Ansari A., Grimm, K. J., & Pianta, R. C. (2019). Power of two: The impact of 2 years of high quality teacher child interactions. Early Education and Development, 30(1), 60-81. CrossRef

15. Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation. (2021). Effects of COVID-19 on attendance during Semester 1 2020. NSW Department of Education and Communities. https://education.nsw.gov.au/about-us/educational-data/cese/publications/statistics/effects-of-covid-19-on-attendance-2020#Download0

16. Childs, J., & Grooms, A. (2018). Improving school attendance through collaboration: A catalyst for community involvement and change. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 23(1−2), 122−138. CrossRef

17. Clarke, S., & Wildy, H. (2011). Improving the small rural or remote school: The role of the district. Australian Journal of Education, 55(1), 24−36. CrossRef

18. Cobb-Clark, D., Kettlewell, N., Schurer, S., & Silburn, S. (2021). The effect of quarantining welfare on school attendance in Indigenous communities. Journal of Human Resources, 1218-9909R1212.

19. Cook, P. J., Dodge, K., Gifford, E. & Schulting, A. B. (2017). A new program to prevent primary school absenteeism: Results of a pilot study in five schools. Children and Youth Services Review, 82, 262−270. CrossRef

20. de Vries, K. (2020). Case study methodology. In K. Aranda (Ed.), Critical qualitative health research (pp. 41−52). Routledge. CrossRef

21. Ehrlich, S. B., Gwynne, J., & Allensworth, E. (2018). Pre-kindergarten attendance matters: Early chronic absence patterns and relationships to learning outcomes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 44, 136−151. CrossRef

22. Gonski, D., Arcus, T., Boston, K., Gould, V., Johnson, W., O'Brien, L., Perry, L., & Roberts, M. (2018). Through growth to achievement: Report of the review to achieve educational excellence in Australian schools. Commonwealth of Australia.

23. Guenther, J. (2013). Are we making education count in remote Australian communities or just counting education? The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 42(2), 157−170. CrossRef

24. Hafekost, K., Lawrence, D., O'Leary, C., Bower, C., Semmens, J., & Zubrick, S. R. (2017). Maternal alcohol use disorder and child school attendance outcomes for non-Indigenous and Indigenous children in Western Australia: a population cohort record linkage study. BMJ Open, 7(7), Article e015650. CrossRef

25. Hancock, K. J., Shepherd, C., Lawrence, D., & Zubrick, S. (2013). Student attendance and educational outcomes: Every day counts. Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. https://www.telethonkids.org.au/globalassets/media/documents/research-topics/student-attendance-and-educational-outcomes-2015.pdf

26. Hancock, K. J., Lawrence, D., Shepherd, C. C., Mitrou, F., & Zubrick, S. R. (2017). Associations between school absence and academic achievement: Do socioeconomics matter? British Educational Research Journal, 43(3), 415−440. CrossRef

27. Hancock, K. J., Mitrou, F., Taylor, C. L., & Zubrick, S. R. (2018). The diverse risk profiles of persistently absent primary students: implications for attendance policies in Australia. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 23(1−2), 53−69. CrossRef

28. Heyne, D., Gentle-Genitty, C., Landell, M. G., Melvin, G., Chu, B., Gallé-Tessonneau, Askeland, K. A., Gonzálvez, C., Havik, T., & Ingul, J. M. (2020). Improving school attendance by enhancing communication among stakeholders: establishment of the International Network for School Attendance (INSA). European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 29(7), 1023−1030. CrossRef

29. Jordan, N. C., Kaplan, D., Ramineni, C., & Locuniak, M. (2009). Early math matters: Kindergarten number competence and later mathematics outcomes. Developmental Psychology, 45(3), 850. CrossRef

30. Judicial Commission of New South Wales. (2018). Children's Court of NSW Resource Handbook − Compulsory schooling orders. Updated 8 June. https://www.judcom.nsw.gov.au/publications/benchbks/children/compulsory_schooling_orders.html

31. Kearney, C. A., & Graczyk, P. A. (2020). A multidimensional, multi-tiered system of supports model to promote school attendance and address school absenteeism. Clinical Child And Family Psychology Review, 23(3), 316−337. CrossRef

32. Ladwig, J. G., & Luke, A. (2014). Does improving school level attendance lead to improved school level achievement? An empirical study of Indigenous educational policy in Australia. The Australian Educational Researcher, 41(2), 171−194. CrossRef

33. Marsh, R. J., & Mathur, S. R. (2020). Mental health in schools: An overview of multitiered systems of support. Intervention in School and Clinic, 56(2), 67−73. CrossRef

34. Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. (1989). Australia's Common and Agreed Goals for Schooling in the Twenty First Century. A Review of the 1989 Common and Agreed Goals for Schooling in Australia (The Hobart Declaration). Australian Government. http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/natgoals_file.pdf

35. Ministerial Council on Education Employment Training and Youth Affairs. (1999). The Adelaide declaration on National goals for schooling in the twenty-first century. Author.

36. Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. (2008). Measurement framework for national key performance measures. Australian Government.

37. Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. (2009). The National Report on Schooling in Australia 2009. Australian Government. https://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia

38. Nelson, R. F. (2005). The impact of ready environments on achievement in kindergarten. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 19(3), 215−221. CrossRef

39. NSW Department of Communities and Justice. (2018). Children's Court NSW − About compulsory schooling orders. https://childrenscourt.nsw.gov.au/childrens-court/compulsory-schooling-orders/compulsory-schooling-orders.html#:~:text=In%20NSW%2C%20all%20children%20between,Approved%20education%20or%20training

40. NSW Department of Education and Communities. (2015a). Student attendance in government schools − Procedures. https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/policy-library/associated-documents/Student-Attendance-in-Government-Schools-Procedures-2015-word-version-docx.docx

41. NSW Department of Education and Communities. (2015b). School attendance register codes. https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/policy-library/related-documents/reg_codes.pdf

42. NSW Department of Education and Communities. (2015c). Exemption from school procedures. https://policies.education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/associated-documents/exempt_gui.pdf

43. NSW Department of Education and Communities. (2021a). Cohort attendance summary. https://education.nsw.gov.au/about-us/educational-data/scout/scout-overview/apps-and-reports/attendance-and-engagement/cohort-attendance-summary#sidenavigation_auto

44. NSW Department of Education and Communities. (2021b). Suspensions and expulsions Semester 1 2017-2021. https://data.cese.nsw.gov.au/data/dataset/c0a90a6f-2509-45c5 ba77-cf5b00350043/resource/7d039678-7527-4744-93a5-e162aa74de11/download/2021_suspension-and-expulsion-factsheet_vr_v2_aa.pdf

45. NSW Education Standards Authority. (2021). NESA Annual report 2020-21. Retrieved September 3, 2021, from https://www.educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/about/who-we-are/annual-report

46. O'Brien Rich Research Group. (2016). Case study research for the Remote School Attendance Strategy. https://www.niaa.gov.au/resource-centre/indigenous-affairs/case-study-research-remote-school-attendance-strategy

47. Orr, C., Fisher, C., Bell, M., O'Donnell, M., Martin, K., Glauert, R., & Preen, D. (2022). Exposure to family and domestic violence is associated with lower attendance and higher suspension in school children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 142(1). CrossRef

48. Prout, Q., Biddle, S., & Biddle, N. (2017). School (non-) attendance and 'mobile cultures': Theoretical and empirical insights from Indigenous Australia. Race Ethnicity and Education, 20(1), 57−71. CrossRef

49. Purdie, N., & Buckley, S. (2010). School attendance and retention of Indigenous Australian students. [Issues Paper No 1 produced for the Closing the Gap Clearinghouse]. https://research .acer.edu.au/indigenous_education/45/

50. Romanes, D., & Hunter, J. (2015). Grade repetition: there are better ways to move kids forward than by holding them back. https://grattan.edu.au/news/grade-repetition-there-are-better-ways-to-move-kids-forward-than-by-holding-them-back/