Homeschool records and reporting in Australia: what to keep and why

Good records do three jobs. They show your registering authority that learning is happening, they help you see your child's progress over time, and they make life easier if your child returns to school or starts senior study.

Most families find that a few minutes a day and a short catch-up each week is enough. The trick is to record as you go rather than trying to reconstruct a year from memory when a report or visit is due.

• Queensland. Registered families submit a report each year to the Home Education Unit. It includes the reporting form, a written report on your child's educational progress and an updated program summary for the following year. Your registration letter states the due date and extensions are not available. The department's guidance asks for dated, annotated work samples, and its procedure says a show cause notice is issued if a report is not provided.
• New South Wales. You must keep records showing how your child's educational program has been delivered. When you apply to renew, an Authorised Person looks at your current program and its records as well as your proposed program, usually at a home visit. The department lists work samples, records of outcomes, digital evidence, journals and external assessments such as NAPLAN as possible evidence.
• Victoria. There is no annual report, but each year the VRQA selects some registered families for a review. Reviews can be done by email, phone or video, and evidence can include reports, journals, app extracts and work samples. The VRQA says a review looks at the instruction you provide, not your child's learning outcomes, and recommends sending copies rather than originals.

These are summaries only. See our Queensland, NSW and Victoria guides, and the official pages linked below, for the full requirements.

• Western Australia. Once registered you are assigned a home education moderator. You arrange an initial evaluation meeting and then an annual one. The department says the meeting focuses on what your child can do and understand rather than the amount of work completed, and the moderator may ask to see evidence. You receive an evaluation report afterwards.
• South Australia. Exemptions for home education are usually reviewed every 12 months. You complete a review form and a home education officer arranges a review meeting, which your child attends. The department's guide asks for evidence that the planned program has been regularly implemented, with literacy and numeracy prioritised, and lists annotated work samples, photo journals and project work as examples.
• Tasmania. Before each renewal you submit a new home education summary and program covering the past 12 months and the next 12, including an evaluation of how the program met your child's needs. A registration officer then visits, views evidence and writes a report against the Standards. The guide says you do not need to show everything, just a range of examples such as workbooks, photos, online dashboards, projects and a learning journal.
• ACT. You submit a Home Education Report for each registered child by 31 December each year. It describes your child's progress intellectually (including literacy and numeracy), socially and emotionally, and physically. Templates are available but you can use your own format.
• Northern Territory. Approval lasts for one school year. The Education Act 2015 allows departmental officers to inspect home education at a time agreed with the parent and to write a report on its suitability. The department's information sheet says parents assess their child's progress across all learning areas and gives examples of evidence such as dated writing samples and online program reports.

Requirements change, so check our state and territory guides and the official pages before you prepare a report or visit.

Whatever your state or territory, these five records cover most of what any authority is likely to ask about:

• Learning plan. The plan you submitted at registration, plus any updates. Note changes as they happen, such as a new maths program or a project that grew into something bigger.
• Weekly log. A few lines per week on what you covered in each learning area. Dot points are fine. A simple table with learning areas down the side works well.
• Work samples. A handful of dated pieces per term in each main area, especially writing and maths. Choose samples that show change over time, such as a story from Term 1 and one from Term 4, and add a short note on what your child did and what it shows.
• Photos and short videos. Ideal for learning that does not produce paperwork: experiments, excursions, building projects, sport, art and music. Add a date and a one-line caption.
• Reading log. Titles, dates and a word or two about each book, including read-alouds and audiobooks.

Several authorities say there is no single required format, so choose whatever you will actually keep up.

Even where a written report is not required, writing one each year is a useful habit. It is also a good way to prepare for a visit or review. A short report for each child might cover:

• Where your child started. A sentence or two per learning area on their skills at the beginning of the period.
• What you did. The main topics, resources and activities, drawn from your weekly log.
• What changed. Specific progress, pointing to dated work samples. "Now writes paragraphs with a topic sentence (see samples from March and September)" says more than "writing improved".
• Wellbeing and the wider picture. Social activities, physical activity and interests.
• Next steps. Two or three goals for the coming period.

Plain language is fine. If your state or territory publishes a template or sample report, start there. Queensland and the ACT both provide templates and say you can use your own format.

• One folder per child per year. Use subfolders for the plan, the weekly log, work samples by learning area, photos and reports.
• Scan or photograph as you go. A phone scanning app turns paper work into dated PDFs in seconds. Name files with the date first (for example 2026-03-14 maths fractions) so they sort in order.
• Back up. Keep a copy in cloud storage and another on a separate drive, so one lost device does not take your records with it.
• Keep originals of a few key pieces. Some families keep a small physical portfolio as well for visits.
• Check upload rules. Queensland says it does not accept links to file-sharing services in annual reports, so attach files directly. The VRQA recommends sending copies rather than originals.
• Use a weekly reminder. Ten minutes at the end of each week to update the log and file samples keeps the job small.

Our free printables include a weekly planner, a daily learning log, a reading log and a work sample record if you prefer paper.