Why we conduct reviews
We conduct reviews to see that the requirements of home schooling registration are being met. These requirements are set out in the Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017, which state that:
A student must receive regular and efficient instruction that:
- taken as a whole substantially addresses the learning areas of:
- English
- mathematics
- sciences (including physics, chemistry and biology)
- humanities and social sciences (including history, geography, economics, business, civics and citizenship)
- the arts
- languages
- health and physical education
- information and communication technology, and design and technology; and
- is consistent with the principles and practice of Australian democracy.
Up to 10% cent of home educating families are randomly selected for review each year.
How a review works
Reviews take place from April to October. If your child's registration is selected, we will notify you early in the year indicating a proposed month for review. As your review approaches, we will contact you again to finalise arrangements.
Essentially, you need to demonstrate that the education you are providing meets the requirements of registration.
From the information and evidence you provide, we'll assess whether:
- instruction is regular and efficient
- your child's educational program, taken as a whole, substantially addresses the learning areas
- the educational program is consistent with the principles and practice of Australian democracy.
If you are educating more than one of your children at home, only one child's registration will be reviewed.
Providing evidence and review methods
We need evidence of the educational program you are providing.
We don't mandate what the evidence should be or how you must provide it. This is because everyone's approach to education is different.
For templates to help you approach your review, see:
To provide your evidence, you may choose one or a combination of the following methods:
Desktop: send us evidence and we'll review it from our office. Due to remote working currently in place, it is preferable that desktop reviews are submitted via email. If you do not have email, please consider a telephone review or contact us to discuss options.
Telephone: talk to us about your child's educational program and about your instruction, explaining how you're meeting the requirements. If you need to send in evidence following the discussion, together we'll decide what evidence is most appropriate.
Visit: in line with social distancing requirements, reviews will be conducted via email or telephone at this stage.
Please note, regardless of the review method we may contact you if we need more information or evidence to understand how you are meeting requirements.
Preparing for Review video
Our short video Preparing for Review will help you understand types of evidence to use at review so you can start preparing. Please note, this video references additional review options that are not currently available
Download video transcript: Preparing for review (docx - 28.37kb)
The information you share with us during a review is private. For more information how we handle privacy, see:
Review information session
We can't run information sessions this year because of social distancing requirements. Instead, we've created 2 presentations to explain how we are doing home schooling reviews this year.
Our first presentation explains how we are conducting review in changing circumstances.
The second presentation explains what information you need to provide to show us you are covering each learning area.
For more information, see:
Outcome of a review
Once we have reviewed your evidence, we will write to let you know whether or not you are meeting the requirements of registration.
If you have met the requirements, you will generally be removed from the review pool for the following 2 years.
If you have not met the requirements, you will be advised of any further actions you need to take. If you do not take these actions and fail to demonstrate that you are meeting the requirements of registration, your home schooling registration may be cancelled.
Appealing a decision
If you think our proposed decision is wrong or unfair, you can ask us for an internal review.
If a final decision has been made, you can apply to the Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal.
For more information about appealing a decision, see:
Frequently asked questions
Have a question? To download a copy of our FAQs, see:
If you're still unsure, contact us. We're here to help: