Lost generation of Australian students missing 64 million days of school a year – see where every public school ranks on attendance

Australia is raising a lost generation of children now missing a staggering 64 million days of school a year. FULL LIST: Search the data for more than 1300 public schools.

A lost generation of Australian students is quietly quitting school in record numbers, with only 2 per cent of students attending classes regularly at some campuses.

Across the country, more than 64 million days are lost every year in mainstream schools, with alternative education options growing to meet the needs of students with mental health issues, family problems and neurodiverse learning.

Attendance levels at Australian schools have dropped 50 per cent over the past decade, with 40 per cent of students on average now missing a day or more a week, down from just 22 per cent in 2025.

Although the lowest attendance levels are at remote schools, even suburban high schools have record low rates of those who turn up most days of the week.

In 2024, 56 per cent of students missed a day or more a week of school in the Northern Territory, followed by 41 per cent in the Australian Capital Territory, 41 per cent in Queensland, 40 per cent in New South Wales and Victoria, 39 per cent in South Australia and 37 per cent in Western Australia.

There’s a big gap between sectors, with 32 per cent of students missing a day or more a week in private schools, 36 per cent in Catholic schools and 44 per cent in government schools, federal data shows.

Dr Matthew White, lecturer in inclusive education at Australian Catholic University, said students were “voting with their feet because they are facing significant issues and school is way down their list of priorities”.

“Their parents may be splitting up or they have mental health issues – there are many reasons why,” he said.

Dr White said Covid “dispelled the idea that you have to go to school to get an education and a lot of children are finding it easier to go to school at home”.

“The school model is one-size-fits-all and it can’t always meet the needs of neurodiverse students and those with social or emotional needs,” he said.

“It’s not that teachers don’t care, it’s that they don’t have the capacity.”

This is part one of a three-part series on soaring rates of school absenteeism. On Wednesday we’ll examine varying disciplinary approaches, and on Thursday the rising popularity of long-distance education.

Dr Matthew White from Australian Catholic University says Covid and working from home taught children home-based education was possible.

News Corp analysis of the attendance levels of more than 1300 state high schools shows 57 per cent miss more than a day a week on average.

These include 35 schools with 30 per cent or fewer students attending nine out of 10 days a fortnight, and 899 schools with 30-49 per cent of students.

Schools struggling to get students to turn up in New South Wales more than four days a week are in Ballina, Tamworth, Gunnedah, Avalon Beach and Albury, among many other areas. In Sydney they include those in Macquarie Fields, Punchbowl and Elderslie.

In Victoria schools with low attendance levels include those in the Melbourne suburbs of Lalor, Frankston North, Roxburgh Park and Sunbury, as well as country areas including Rosebud, Beechworth, Morwell and Castlemaine.

In Queensland, schools in Rockhampton, Mareeba, Southport, Coolum and Boonah struggle to get students to turn up more than four days a week, along with Brisbane schools in

Wavell Heights, Shailer Park and Bellbird Park, among others.

South Australian schools with low attendance are in country areas such as Peterborough, Port Augusta, Berri, Moonta and Goolwa, along with Adelaide schools in Elizabeth, Findon and Christie Downs.

Cassara Jones-Smith was too anxious to attend mainstream school and now learns online from home with mental health support. Picture: Jason Edwards

Alternative options

Cassara Jones-Smith, 17, is in year 11 at BlendED in East Ballarat after struggling in the mainstream system.

“I was very anxious of going into public spaces and barely a day went by when I wasn’t bullied by my peers,” she said. “I didn’t have any support and only attended twice a week.”

She switched to attending school at home in November 2023 via BlendED where she can “learn in my own space”.

“BlendED allows me to have that space and the support of a youth worker,” she said. “Now I go every day unless I am sick and have become a lot more confident as a person.”

Chloe Hand, director of new initiatives at Edmund Rice Education Australia, which runs the school, said it “does not put rules in place that prevent engagement for young people – no uniforms, late passes, detentions, suspensions or expulsions”.

“This acknowledges that young people who have barriers to engaging, are experiencing mental health concerns, diversity, trauma, or other adversity, need more support rather than less at critical times in their lives,” she said.

Cassara Jones-Smith says having her own space and additional support at BlendED in East Ballarat has increased her confidence. Picture: Jason Edwards

Another such school is Gateway Community High in Carlingford NSW, which has just celebrated five years of providing alternative education for children who have not thrived in mainstream settings.

The school was established to meet the growing need for flexible, alternative education in Sydney’s northwest and has grown from 30 students in 2021 to 75 in 2025, including its first year 12 graduating HSC class.

CEO Theresa Collignon said the school “set out to create a place where every young person could feel supported and succeed”.

“Seeing our very first HSC graduates walk across the stage is proof that this model works and it’s changing lives. It’s an approach we are keen to bring to more communities,” she said.

Students at Gateway Community High unwinding in the corridor between classes.

Top schools for attendance

The best state high school overall is Cleve Area School in South Australia which has an attendance level of 96 per cent, followed by Alamanda K-9 College in Melbourne, where 89 per cent of students attend 90 per cent or more of the time.

Next on 88 per cent is Kimba Area School (SA), Cranbourne West Secondary School on 88 per cent (Victoria) and James Ruse Agricultural High School (New South Wales) on 87 per cent. The top school in Queensland for attendance is the Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology where 86 per cent of students attend at least nine days a fortnight.

Cleve Area School principal Trevor McDonough said “each missed school day is a missed opportunity to learn, which is why we work really hard to give students a say in their education and keep them engaged through a range of measures”.

“If a child is absent for three days in a row, one of our of teachers will contact home to make sure if there is a problem, that we can support the family to get their child back to school,” he said.

Leave a comment below or email us at [e-mail]

Originally published as Lost generation of Australian students missing 64 million days of school a year – see where every public school ranks on attendance