Homeschooling in Australia has roughly doubled since about 2018–20, and an education neuroscience expert says most families are leaving classrooms because of problems at school rather than attraction to learning at home.
CQUniversity head of educational neuroscience professor Ken Purnell said national figures put the number of homeschooled children at about 45,000. Queensland has seen one of the steepest rises, with enrolments up more than 160% since 2020 to about 12,000, a number similar to Victoria and New South Wales.
The national figure relates to 2024, ABC reported. Queensland data show 11,800 students registered on 1 August 2025, up from 5,008 in 2021.
Pushed out, not pulled in
“Most of the reasons families choose homeschooling are what I would call repellent factors rather than attractant factors,” Professor Purnell said.
“Bullying, school refusal and a poor fit between the child and the school environment can push families to look for another option, particularly when they feel their child’s needs, including neurodivergent needs, are not being adequately met.
“There are also families attracted by the flexibility – they may want to travel, accommodate a particular family lifestyle or simply give their child the opportunity to learn at a different pace.”
Researchers from the University of Newcastle and Queensland University of Technology reached a similar view, writing that most families who homeschool today did not want to before they felt it was essential.
For school leaders, that points to retention as much as regulation: bullying, school refusal and unmet neurodivergent needs are issues schools can address before a family withdraws.
Social outcomes and the limits of the evidence
“School is the main social hub for most children, but for a real minority it can be the opposite – it can be a place of exclusion rather than connection,” he said.
“There is a perception that children who are homeschooled are less socialised, but the evidence does not support such a simple conclusion.
“Some studies suggest homeschooled children can be quite confident socially because their social world may extend beyond a single classroom of same-age peers.”
He said homeschooling can suit some neurodivergent children when mainstream schools have not provided the flexibility or support they need. The Newcastle and QUT researchers cited international surveys suggesting homeschoolers do not suffer social problems compared with matched peers, while noting methodological weaknesses in that research.
“The flip side is that homeschooling can be a very heavy load for parents. It requires considerable time, money and expertise, and families can experience very different levels of support and oversight depending on where they live,” he said.
“We also need to recognise that the research base around homeschooling is still relatively thin. Much of the evidence is correlational, so we need to be careful about claiming that homeschooling itself causes particular educational or social outcomes.”
Oversight varies by state
Oversight varies by state, as Professor Purnell noted. The Queensland Government has backed all eight recommendations of an independent review of its Home Education Unit, now renamed Queensland Home Education with both regulatory and support roles.
In New South Wales, a September 2025 Audit Office report found registration processing usually took more than a school term, during which children generally must remain enrolled at school.
Professor Purnell said growth in distance education offers families another route away from daily attendance.
“Rather than asking whether homeschooling is good or bad, we should be asking what children need to learn, develop and thrive, and whether the educational environment they are in is providing those things,” he said.
“For some children, that will absolutely be a conventional school. For others, it may be homeschooling, distance education or another model.
“The challenge for education systems is to make sure that children are not falling through the cracks simply because the standard model does not work for them.”