SA Education Minister Blair Boyer reveals plans for changes to truancy laws, including fines

More than 110 children who rarely attend school are on the radar of education authorities, as the government flags tougher laws.

Fines for parents who fail to enrol their children in school, or who keep them from attending class, are among changes being considered to toughen truancy laws.

Parents could also have less time to tell teachers why their child is absent and the head of the Education Department could gain more power to demand proof, such as sick certificates.

The state government will soon launch public consultation on a suite of changes to the SA Education and Children’s Services Act in a bid to lift school attendance.

It comes as the government confirms 76 families, with a total 114 children, have come under close watch for chronic non-attendance since early 2022.

However, there have been no prosecutions since 2017, when two parents were taken to court for failing to get their kids to school.

School attendance rates plummeted to below 85 per cent following the arrival of the Covid-19 virus in 2020 and have not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels of almost 91 per cent.

Across the country there are an estimated 80,000 children and teens who never returned to the education system.

Education Minister Blair Boyer is proposing changes to school truancy laws. Picture: Emma Brasier

If a child is absent for 10 days or more in a term it is considered “chronic non-attendance”.

Education Minister Blair Boyer said the proposed law reforms would ensure authorities “can act when parents or guardians are not supporting their children to go to school”.

“Monitoring, support and formal warning letters (to families) have shown positive results, with children who were never enrolled now attending school and those who were disengaged receiving the right support to return to learning,” he said.

In coming weeks the government will launch an online survey on potential changes including:

INTRODUCING fines for parents or carers who fail to enrol their children in school, prevent them from attending or refuse to provide documents to the department. These could be imposed without having to launch court proceedings.

GENERATING a legal warning letter for parents who flout the laws.

EMPOWERING the department boss to request documents from parents of chronically absent children, including sick certificates or referrals to specialists.

CUTTING the number of days carers have to notify a school of the reason a child is absent from five to three.

Mr Boyer said the government had invested more into “making sure we get attendance numbers up, particularly through support for families and student mental health, but it’s important this is done in partnerships with parents to make it work”.

The proposed law changes follow the creation of a specialist attendance team within the Education Department, staffed by social workers and support officers, in 2023.

The government also launched a trial to improve attendance at 10 public primary schools last year.

Originally published as SA Education Minister Blair Boyer reveals plans for changes to truancy laws, including fines