Macarthur parents face charges for not sending daughters to school

Failing to enrol a child in school comes with hefty fines and two parents from Macarthur could be slapped with them for failing to follow rules around education.

Two Macarthur parents could face thousands in fines for breaching state rules around sending their children to school.

The parents - who cannot be named for legal reasons - each face two counts of parent not enrolling compulsory school age child, brought against them by the Department of Education.

Court documents state they failed to enrol their six and 11-year-old daughters to attend school in the Macarthur region.

At Picton Local Court on Wednesday, neither of the parents appeared but Magistrate Mark Douglass said: “it is clear from the correspondence that the defendants know about the proceedings”.

He said a letter was on file from both parents entering a “plea of abatement” which was not a term used by NSW courts.

Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

A representative for the Department of Education asked for a two-week adjournment and the matter returns to court on July 6.

Under the Education Act in NSW, parents must either enrol their child in a school or register them for home schooling and all children must be enrolled at school until they have finished Year 10 and turned 17.

NSW laws state that failing to enrol a child comes with a maximum penalty of $2750 for a first offence, and rises to $5500 for a subsequent offence.