School attendance has been sliding for more than a decade, with more than a million Australian students now missing significant classroom time. Governments have set ambitious targets to reverse the trend, but meeting them will require a fundamental shift in approach.

On any given school day in Australia this year, 11 per cent of children who should have been in class weren’t.

That’s not a blip. In 2014, that figure was seven per cent.

School attendance has been sliding for more than a decade, and the pandemic poured fuel on the fire. While attendance bounced back a bit after lockdowns ended, and 2025 has brought a small uptick, we’re still nowhere near where we were before COVID.

The amount of learning time lost is staggering. In 2025, students missed on average four and a half weeks of learning. From the first day of school to the end of Year 10, that adds up to more than a year of missed class-time for the average student.

Don’t think this is a problem confined to a small group of students on the margins. Only three in five Australian students now attend school regularly – that is, at least 90 per cent of the time. That translates to well over a million students who are missing out on the academic, social, and emotional benefits that come from showing up every day.

Students in government schools attend less often than those in Catholic and independent schools. And the gaps become chasms for Indigenous students and students in remote areas: on average they miss about a quarter of the school year, every year. From Foundation to the end of Year 10, that amounts to about two and a half years of lost learning time.

This is a harsh reality and it demands bold government action.

All state and territory governments, along with the Commonwealth, have pledged to restore national school attendance rates to their 2019 (i.e. pre-pandemic) levels by 2030. These commitments include a special focus on Indigenous students, regional and remote students, and students from disadvantaged schools – governments have committed that by 2035, attendance for these groups will match the rate of the overall student population.

Meeting these targets should be seen as a moral imperative for Australia’s political class. But we need to recognise that the targets are extraordinarily ambitious, and a business-as-usual approach will almost certainly guarantee failure.

We can’t nudge our way out of this crisis. Australia needs a wholesale rethink of how to get children back into the classroom.

We are not alone. Many countries have had problems getting school attendance to where it needs to be. But some have taken the issue far more seriously than us. England is one such country we can learn from.

Students in England attend school 94 per cent of the time, compared to Australia’s 89 per cent. England has made attendance a national priority, driving a relentless public messaging campaign to elevate the importance of school attendance, radically increasing the transparency of attendance data, setting higher expectations for families and schools, and adopting a whole-of-government approach to tackle barriers to attendance. England’s approach shows five big opportunities that Australia should seize now.

First, launch a national public campaign on why school attendance matters.
Parents need clear, consistent messages from political leaders, education departments, and schools. England’s ministers talk about attendance constantly, and it works. When the message comes from the top, it filters down through schools and parents.

Second, modernise Australia’s patchwork approach to attendance data.
Right now, every state and sector collects different types of attendance data and publishes it painfully slowly, if at all. Parents and the public deserve to know what’s happening. Consistent, transparent, timely data would create a much clearer picture of the attendance challenge, and the success stories. It would also help drive political commitments to improve.

Third, shine a spotlight on schools that are beating the odds. England takes a much more systematic approach to finding high-performing schools, documenting their strategies, and sharing their successes. These top performers are designated as demonstration schools, working with nearby schools to showcase effective practice, and providing targeted support. Australia should do this too.

Fourth, provide simple, clear health guidance for parents. To reduce absences due to illness, England has provided updated guidance since the pandemic, so parents know when a child is too sick for school and when it’s safe to return. Working with the National Health Service, England has provided detailed advice for specific symptoms – from high temperatures to cold sores – so parents can make decisions quickly and confidently. The number of school days lost to illness-related absences has since fallen.

Finally, treat school attendance as a whole-of-government priority. Schools can’t fix homelessness, child neglect, or serious mental health concerns – but, as England shows, governments can bring together education, health, justice, and children’s services to find practical strategies to boost school attendance.

It’s time to put school attendance on the national agenda. The need for action is urgent, and the first steps are clear.