HEWA met with the Department of Education on Thursday, 4th June 2026. Below is an update from that meeting. Please share this far and wide!
📄 Download the Minutes from this meeting
New Department of Education Webpage
To make things clearer for home educators and improve consistency across WA, the Department has launched a new public webpage — a “one-stop shop” listing eligibility, requirements, and services home-ed students can access.
👉 Department of Education WA – Home Schooling
Coming soon to that page:
- A calendar with dates for things like SAS payment applications, NAPLAN, and in-term swimming lessons
- From 2027, an online SAS application
- Smartriders with “School of home education” printed alongside student details, to use as home-ed student ID (photos are not yet available as agencies have not been able to verify student photographs)
The webpage also includes examples of ways parents can document how they are supporting their children’s education. These are NOT mandated. The Department has requested HEWA’s help in adding examples to cover a broad range of approaches and situations. If you have examples you are happy to share, please send them to admin@hbln.org.au. (The Department can remove identifying details if you prefer.)
Evaluation Meetings
The initial 3-month evaluation meeting is considered a planning meeting to ensure the home educator is on track with an appropriate program that meets the identified needs of their child and has considered what progress looks like.
In all evaluation meetings (initial 3-month, annual, and any re-evaluations):
- Parents are to identify the needs, strengths, and challenges of their child/ren, what progress should look like for each of them, and how they intend to support that progress. Moderators are NOT permitted to tell parents what materials to use or stipulate curriculum.
- Where mental/emotional or physical health is a significant factor, progress may be much more about student wellbeing than academics.
- The Department will soon launch a new digital evaluation form to be completed by moderators, as agreed with parents within each evaluation meeting, so there will be no surprises in reports afterward. This should be collaborative and supportive.
- The evaluation form questions will also be published on the public website to help parents prepare beforehand.
As always, if parents experience anything from Department staff which is not consistent with any of the above, please advise HEWA so we can pass that on to Department management, and they can address staff misunderstandings or non-compliance.