I’ve been invited to participate in a focus group as the HEWA Coordinator to discuss the introduction of the Unique Student Identifier (USI) for all school-aged children (including home-educated).

The USI is already used in TAFE, universities, and other vocational training to keep track of students’ education records. The proposal now is to extend the USI system to include all students from pre-primary through Year 12, including those who are home educated, starting from 2027 onwards. This would replace the current WA Student Number with a national system linking education records across Australia.

📝 What we’ll discuss:

Awareness of the USI among home-educating families

Possible benefits and concerns for our community

Factors that might make families more likely or more hesitant to support it

How families want to be informed (who speaks, how info is delivered, how questions can be asked)

Possible future uses of the USI

💬 I’d love your input!

Please share:

What you know (if anything) about the USI

Any benefits or concerns you can see

How you’d prefer to receive information about it

📧 Email me your feedback, – coordinator@hbln.org.au

📝 Complete this anonymous survey: https://forms.office.com/r/X4kyUJi0sN

Your feedback will help ensure home-educated voices are heard in this important conversation.

– Sarah

Home Education WA (HEWA) Coordinator