Reasons for home educating in Australia: who and why?

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographics of participants.

Gender	Frequency (N)	% of Sample	Age	Frequency (N)	% of Sample	Educational Attainment	Frequency (N)	% of Sample	State	Frequency (N)	% of Sample
Female	377	97.9	21–25	1	.3	Primary school	2	.5	ACT	3	.8
Male	5	0.01	26–30	18	4.7	High school	50	13.0	NSW	95	24.7
Fluid	1		31–35	71	18.4	Certificate I–IV	74	19.2	NT	3	.8
Missing	2		36–40	92	23.9	Diploma	52	13.5	QLD	67	17.4
			41–45	106	27.5	Degree	125	32.5	SA	9	2.3
			45–50	69	17.9	Postgrad Dip	39	10.1	TAS	6	1.6
			51–55	18	4.7	Master	33	8.6	VIC	78	20.3
			56–60	7	1.8	Doctorate	10	2.6	WA	124	32.2
			61–65	1	.3
			66–70	2	.5

Table 2. Number of children currently home educated.

Number of Children	Frequency (N)	% of Sample
1	172	44.7
2	135	35.1
3	59	15.3
4	11	2.9
5	4	1.0
6	2	.5
7	2	.5
Total	385	100.0

Table 3. Demographics of the children.

Gender	Frequency (N)	% of Sample	Age (yrs)	Frequency (N)	% of Sample	Birth Position	Frequency (N)	% of Sample
Male	352	51.9	3–5	85	12.6	1	276	40.8
Female	318	47.0	6–8	182	26.9	2	208	30.8
Other	1	<1	9–11	195	28.8	3	123	18.2
Non-binary	1	<1	12–14	153	22.6	4	43	6.4
DNR	4	<1	15–17	54	8.0	5	13	1.9
			18–20	2	<1	6	6	<1
			Over 21	3	<1	7	3	<1
						11	1	<1
						12	1	<1
						13	1	<1
						Adopted	1	<1

Table 4. Estimated loss of income due to home educating.

Estimated loss of income	Frequency (N)	% of Sample
0–$5,000	7	2.8
$5–10,000	8	3.2
$10–15,000	12	4.8
$15–20,000	21	8.4
$20–25,000	36	14.5
$25–30,000	29	11.6
$30–35,000	21	8.4
$35–40,000	10	4.0
$40–45,000	7	2.8
$45–50,000	24	9.6
More than $50,000pa	72	28.9
Did not respond	2	<1

Table 5. Frequency of registration.

Is this child registered as home educated with the relevant education authority?	Frequency (N)	% of Sample
Yes	539	79.7
No	54	8.0
In the process of registering	30	4.4
Prefer not to say	6	< 1
We are not required to register	44	6.5
Did not respond	3	< 1

Table 6. Reported diagnosed mental health conditions.

Mental Health Condition (MHC)	Frequency (N)	% of MHC	% of Sample (N = 676)
Anxiety: General Anxiety Disorder	144	77%	21%
Depression	24	13%	4%
Anxiety: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	7	4%	1%
Anxiety: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder	5	3%	<1%
Selective Mute	2	1%	<1%
Anxiety: Agoraphobia	1	<1%	<1%
Borderline Personality Disorder	1	<1%	<1%
Conduct Disorder	1	<1%	<1%
Anorexia	1	<1%	<1%
Gender Dysphoria	1	<1%	<1%
Reactive Attachment Disorder	1	<1%	<1%

Table 7. Developmental differences requiring accommodations.

Developmental Difference (DD)	Frequency (N)	% of DD	% of Sample (N = 676)	% of Subsample 1*(N = 285)	% of Subsample 2 (N = 391)
Autism Spectrum Disorder	94	23	14	10	17
Specific Learning Disorders	89	21	13	10	16
Gifted	81	20	12	11	13
Attention Deficit Disorders	64	15	9	4	13
Specific Motor Disorders	47	11	7	3	9
Auditory Processing Disorder	5	1	<1%
Sensory Processing Disorder	4	<1%	<1%
Vision Impairment	4	<1%	<1%
Epilepsy	3	<1%	<1%
Oppositional Defiance Disorder	2	<1%	<1%
Speech Delay	2	<1%	<1%
Transgender	2	<1%	<1%
Other	17	4%	2.5%

*Note: Subsample 1, students who were never enrolled in mainstream education. Subsample 2, students who were previously enrolled in mainstream education. #Figures have been rounded.

Table 8. Education providers accessed by respondents prior to home educating.

Provider	Frequency (N)	% of Subsample (N = 391)
Public schools	188	48.1
Public and Catholic	21	5.4
Public and AIS	37	9.5
Public, Catholic and AIS	1	.3
Catholic	30	7.7
Catholic and AIS	2	.5
AIS	60	15.3
Other	48	12.3
Total	387	99.0
Missing	4	1.0
	391	100.0

Table 9. Summary of school based accommodations and services.

Specialist Services/Accommodation Through Education System	Frequency (N)	% of Services (%)	% of Sample (N = 197)
Individual Education Plan	106	25.4	53.8
Special Needs Education Assistant	59	14.1	29.9
School Psychologist Services	51	12.2	25.8
Extension Pull Out Programme	50	11.9	25.4
Specialist Group Numeracy or Literacy Remediation	46	11.0	23.4
Access to a Chaplain	37	8.8	18.8
Health Care Plan	26	6.2	13.2
Individual Behaviour Plan	22	5.3	11.2
Full-time Gifted Education Programme	9	2.2	4.6
Other	12	2.9	6

Table 10. Privately engaged professional services.

Professional Service Privately Engaged	Frequency (N)	% of Services	% of Sample (N = 231)
Psychologist	151	22.3	65.4
Pediatrician	126	18.6	54.5
Occupational Therapist	99	14.6	42.9
Speech Therapist	98	14.5	42.4
Audiologist or ENT Specialist	59	8.7	25.5
Physiotherapist	37	5.5	16.0
Chiropractor	32	4.7	13.9
Psychiatrist	23	3.4	10.0
Rheumatologist	11	1.6	4.8
Other	42	6.2	18.2

Table 11. Guardian’s perceptions: why recommendations were not followed.

Theme	Frequency (N)	% of Sample (N = 174)
Lack of pedagogical knowledge or experience.	33	18.9%
Did not believe the diagnosis or recommendations.	33	18.9%
Lack of care or effort.	23	13.2%
School facilities, resources or structures.	22	12.6%
Time	21	12%
Class size	10	5.7%
Lack of funding	8	4.6%
Poor behaviour management skills	6	3.5%
Invisibility/Highly compliant child	6	3.5%
Poor communication	6	3.5%
School leadership	6	3.5%