Primary and high school
Choosing a school
Families may choose a public school, private school or homeschooling, based on what suits their child and family.
To help you decide, you can check the:
- My School website to get information about schools, like the number of students and academic outcomes
- catchment area for your local public primary or high school.
A catchment area means your child must live within a certain area around the school to attend. This is sometimes called a priority enrolment area or intake area.
Find the catchment area for your local public schools on your state or territory government website.
| State or territory | Resource |
|---|---|
| ACT | Find a school in your Priority Enrolment Area in ACT |
| NSW | Find your school in NSW |
| NT | School's priority enrolment area in NT |
| Qld | School catchment areas in Qld |
| SA | Find your local school in SA |
| Tas | Find your local school in Tas |
| Vic | Find my School in Vic |
| WA | Find a school in WA |
Enrolling in a public school
Find out how to enrol your child and check what age they can start primary school on your state or territory website.
Find out what documents you need to enrol your child in school.
Getting to and from school
Your child may get free or low cost travel on public transport to and from school. Find out what’s available on your state or territory website.
| State or territory | Resource |
|---|---|
| ACT | Transport Canberra |
| NSW | NSW school student travel |
| NT | Getting to and from school in NT |
| Qld | Qld school travel |
| SA | Getting to school in SA |
| Tas | Tas student travel |
| Vic | Travelling to school in Vic |
| WA | Student travel subsidies in WA Transperth – Student SmartRider WA School Bus Services |
Get a Centrelink payment for school transport
You may be eligible for a Centrelink payment to help your child get to school.
Using outside school hours care
You may need care for your child before or after school, or in the holidays. Outside school hours care can help.
Find a provider on the Starting Blocks website.
You may get Child Care Subsidy to help with the cost of outside school hours care.
School learning and wellbeing resources
There are websites that can help your child with their wellbeing and learning at school.