Homeschool Learning Plan for Registration in Australia

Every state wants your plan to cover four things:

what your child will learn
how you’ll teach it
what resources you’ll use
how you’ll track progress

You don’t need to write a lot. You need to be specific. Rules do change, so check the linked pages before you apply.

What does a NSW home schooling plan need?

What NSW asks for

A plan based on the NSW syllabuses, for every learning area at your child’s stage

How the plan suits your child’s learning needs

How you’ll plan, supervise and record teaching

How you’ll record your child’s progress

Enough time, suitable resources and a place to learn

What NSW doesn’t ask for

A teaching qualification

A set format or template

A timetable or diary

Outcome codes

A bought curriculum

A yearly report

In NSW, someone visits your home. So your plan is something you’ll talk through in person, not only send in.

NSW rules are under review. The Department of Education’s Guidelines apply today. Draft rules to replace them were open for comment in July and August 2026. On 22 September 2026, the drafts had no final version or start date. Until then, the Guidelines stay in effect (home schooling page). Anything marked “draft” below may change.

Who registers you. The NSW Department of Education has registered home-schooled children since 5 May 2025. The syllabuses still come from NESA. Some Department pages and documents still say NESA until someone updates them (templates page). The old name doesn’t mean the old rules apply.

Curriculum basis. NSW calls the plan the “educational program”. The draft rules would call it the “education plan”. It must be based on the NSW syllabuses (requirements for registration).

Kindergarten to Year 6 covers six areas every year (K to 6 page):

English
Mathematics
Science and Technology
HSIE, which must include study about Australia
Creative Arts, which must include both art and music
PDHPE

Years 7 to 10 cover English, Mathematics, Science and one HSIE syllabus. Add two more, each from a different area (7 to 10 page). Years 11 and 12 have their own pattern of study.

You can pick a different stage for each subject (using NESA syllabuses). For a child with disability, the plan can (curriculum overview):

change the order
use simpler texts
allow more or less time

The new K to 10 English and Mathematics syllabuses are required now. The other four new K to 6 syllabuses aren’t required yet. They have no home schooling start date so far (curriculum reform page).

How detailed. Any format works: paper, digital, project based or a mix (preparing to apply). Plan by subject or by theme (methods and resources).

This is the bit the visitor will ask about: the link to the syllabus. Show it with any mix of:

outcomes
content
stage statements, for the older syllabuses

The draft FAQ says you don’t need every outcome. But if the plan doesn’t show the link, you can get a shorter registration or be refused.

You can keep time loose. No timetable is needed, only a way to show enough time is set aside. A diary or a rough weekly schedule works (allocating time).

Keep records as you go (keeping records), such as:

work samples
journals
photos

Already written a plan? The registration page checks it against your state’s learning outcomes. It shows what’s missing before you apply.

How it’s checked. An Authorised Person visits your home for every application, first or renewal (the visit). Visits often take 30 to 90 minutes. They’ll see your child and the learning space. Your child isn’t tested. At a renewal, they’ll also look at your records. Have the plan ready to talk through.

The process can take up to 12 weeks, so apply 3 months ahead (application and assessment). In 2025, 0.61 per cent of applications were refused for not meeting requirements (2025 data report).

How long it lasts. Up to 2 years. A first registration is usually 12 months, sometimes shorter or longer. That’s because you have no records yet to show the plan was taught. Most renewals in 2025 were for 24 months.

Changing the plan. You can change it without telling the Department, if it still meets the requirements (notice of changes). You do tell the Department about:

a new address
new contact details
a change to the year or stage on the certificate

The Department expects plans to change (reviewing programs). The draft rules would also ask you to record the changes.

A common pattern in NSW. A first plan is thin in places. The child gets a shorter registration, with notes on what to improve. The family builds up records. Later registrations run longer.

What does a Victorian home education learning plan need?

What Victoria asks for

When and where you’ll teach, in general terms

What you’ll teach in the first year, across the eight learning areas

The materials and resources you’ll use, by name

How you’ll record your child’s learning

What Victoria doesn’t ask for

The Victorian or Australian Curriculum

A bought curriculum or VRQA’s template

An hour by hour timetable

Content pitched at a set year level

Medical records or photos of your child

A home visit, or a new plan each year

Victoria checks your application on paper. What you write is all they see.

Who registers you. The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA). Registration is free (register to home educate). The plan covers the first year only (develop a learning plan). Send one form and one plan per child.

Curriculum basis. No curriculum is required. The teaching must be regular and efficient. Taken as a whole, it must substantially address eight learning areas:

English
Mathematics
Sciences
Humanities and social sciences
The arts
Languages
Health and physical education
Technologies

The areas don’t need equal weight. You can ask for an exemption from up to seven areas. Health or disability are among the reasons. You don’t need a specialist letter.

How detailed. Plans aren’t expected to be long. “When” can be “weekdays”. But “read” isn’t enough as an English activity, and “books” isn’t enough as a resource. Name the titles, websites, apps and classes. Specific beats long. Set the plan out by subject or by activity. VRQA has two optional templates and five sample plans.

How it’s checked. On paper. VRQA must decide within 28 days of a complete application. In 2024-25, VRQA (annual report 2024-25):

took 13 days on average to decide
refused no one
asked 877 parents for more detail

To start at the beginning of the school year, apply by 30 November the year before. Your child stays at school until VRQA approves.

How long it lasts. Registration doesn’t expire. Before 30 November each year, tell VRQA if your child will be home schooled next year. Each year VRQA reviews up to 1 in 10 registrations, picked at random. A review checks the requirements, not your child. It can be in writing, or by phone or video (understand reviews).

Changing the plan. You don’t report changes to the plan. You do report changes to:

your child’s name
the responsible parent
contact details
your address

What counts later is the teaching standard across the learning areas, not a line by line match with the first plan.

What is changing. The Act changed on 5 August 2026. The learning areas now include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and perspectives. On 22 September 2026, VRQA hadn’t said if it expects this in plans. The home schooling Regulations expire on 14 June 2027 and are due to be replaced. A plan written now falls under the current rules.

What does a Queensland home education program summary need?

What Queensland asks for

A summary of the educational program, on the approved application

A program that meets eight criteria, listed below

A yearly progress report, which carries next year’s plan

What Queensland doesn’t ask for

The Australian Curriculum or a list of learning areas

Everything you plan for the year

Any of the templates

A registered teacher

Certified copies of documents

A set number of work samples

Queensland wants a summary, not the whole year. You can even start before it’s written.

What the plan contains. Queensland Home Education (QHE), formerly the Home Education Unit, registers your child. The application includes a summary of your educational program (registering for home education). QHE suggests it covers:

your child’s learning needs and past learning
aims for the year, which can include your child’s own
planned activities and topics
how these meet your child’s needs
how your learning space supports learning and wellbeing
how you’ll track progress

QHE checks the program against eight criteria (home education procedure):

your child’s goals
suited to their age and ability
a place suited to learning
social needs
teaching strategies
varied experiences
enough resources
a way to monitor progress

Curriculum basis and detail. Queensland doesn’t require the Australian Curriculum or its eight learning areas. The program must suit your child’s age, ability and development. You can write the summary yourself. QHE has four optional templates:

reflection questions
a goal-directed program
an Australian Curriculum overview
a thematic program

How it’s checked. You can get 60 days of provisional registration without a plan. In that time you write your plan and send in the full application. QHE must decide within 90 days. If QHE asks for more, you have at least 28 days to answer. If you don’t, the application can be refused.

How long it lasts, and changing the plan. QHE’s pages describe no separate renewal application. Instead, a written progress report is due each year, between 3 and 2 months before the registration anniversary. The deadline can’t be extended. If you’re continuing, the report includes next year’s program summary. Officers check your progress and next year’s plan together (reporting requirements). Plan changes during the year go into the next report. A change of address must be reported within 28 days.

What is changing. After a 2024 review, better templates and sample reports were under way in July 2025 (review page). A lighter reporting option was to be considered for trial. On 22 September 2026, no QHE page described one running.

What do WA, SA, Tasmania, the ACT and the NT ask for?

WA: a plan of what and how your child will learn, and how you’ll record progress. It can refer to the WA Curriculum, but it doesn’t have to. Home schooling in WA
SA: a 12 month program covering all eight Australian Curriculum learning areas, with three learning goals for each child. Home education in SA
TAS: a Home Education Program for each child that addresses the Registrar’s 10 Standards. Home education registration
ACT: a Statement of Intent within 3 months of registration. The Australian Curriculum is encouraged, not required. Home education in the ACT
NT: a program that meets Australian Curriculum requirements, approved for one school year. Home education in the NT

Tips from families on writing the plan

These come from what many families have shared.

You can keep when and where loose. The plan is an outline, not a lesson plan or a daily diary.
Name your resources. Give the title, website, app or class, and what your child does with it. A few examples per area is enough.
One activity can count many times. Cooking, shopping or a hobby class can sit under every area it touches. For areas that feel less like school, think of outings, building, drawing, music and drama.
In NSW, show the syllabus link your way. Copying some outcomes or content above each subject works.
Start records on day one. Dated photos, work samples and a reading list all count. A light system you keep beats a detailed one you drop.
You don’t have to buy a curriculum. If you use one, fit it to your child and your state’s rules. Don’t copy a ready-made plan word for word.
If your child is leaving school, start from their last reports. It can take a few weeks to see where they are.
Expect the plan to change. Jot down what changed and why.
Look at the free samples first. And check the date on any advice. If it calls NESA the NSW regulator, it’s out of date. That includes some Department pages.

Where advice about plans differs

You’ll hear confident advice both ways on a few things. Here’s where the rules land.

How much syllabus detail a NSW plan needs. Some say a plain description per area is enough, with a nod to the syllabus. Others map every activity to an outcome, week by week. The Department wants a visible syllabus link, and no timetable. A middle path, for each area:

name the stage
pick the outcomes or content that fit your child this period
list the resources under them

Follow a year level, or plan for your child as they are. Some say to follow the Australian Curriculum for your child’s year level. Others say to start from where your child is. Only SA and the NT require the Australian Curriculum. So start from your child, then check your state’s rule.

How strict the checking is. Some say a missing section gets plans refused. Others say any reasonable effort gets through. The truth sits in between. Refusal is uncommon, but a thin plan costs you time. Answer every request, and in NSW, be there for the visit.

What you’ll hear, and what the rules say

We make a planning tool, so we’re a seller too. This page sticks to what regulators publish, and the links let you check each rule.

What you’ll hear	What the rules say
You need a full year plan for every subject, a weekly timetable and every resource mapped to an outcome. Miss a piece and you’re refused.	NSW sets no format. NSW and Victoria need no timetable. A Queensland summary needn’t hold everything. In 2025, NSW refused 0.61 per cent for not meeting requirements. Victoria refused none in 2024-25.
A bought package or paid registration service is the safer path.	NSW, Victoria and Queensland don’t require a purchase or a qualification. In NSW, you stay responsible for gaps in a bought program. The draft FAQ says buying one doesn’t make registration more likely.
Plans must follow the Australian Curriculum or your child’s year level.	Only in SA and the NT. NSW uses its own syllabuses, at the stage you choose. Victoria and Queensland don’t require a curriculum.
Name your resources, not “books” or “online programs”.	This one’s right. VRQA asks for titles, web addresses, apps and named services.

Common questions about homeschool learning plans

Do I have to follow the Australian Curriculum?

Only in SA and the NT. NSW uses its own syllabuses, at the stage you choose for each subject. Victoria and Queensland don’t require a curriculum. In WA, the plan can refer to the WA Curriculum, but it doesn’t have to. In the ACT, the Australian Curriculum is encouraged, not required.

Does the plan need a timetable?

Not in NSW. You do need to show enough time is set aside. A diary or a rough weekly schedule works. Victoria doesn’t need an hour by hour timetable either. There, “when” can be as loose as “weekdays”.

How long should the plan be?

No state sets a length. VRQA says plans aren’t expected to be long. It can only check what’s written, so aim for specific, not long. In Queensland, the summary doesn’t need everything you plan for the year.

Do I have to tell the regulator when the plan changes?

Not in NSW, as long as the plan still meets the requirements. You do tell NSW if the year or stage on the certificate changes. Not in Victoria. In Queensland, the change goes into your next yearly progress report. None of the three expects the plan to stay the same all year.

Do I have to buy a curriculum or use a template?

NSW, Victoria and Queensland don’t require a purchase or a qualification. NSW sets no format or template. The templates in Victoria and Queensland are optional.

Are many plans refused?

Not many. In 2025, NSW refused 0.61 per cent of applications for not meeting requirements. VRQA refused no one in 2024-25. A thin plan costs you time instead. NSW may give a shorter registration. Victoria and Queensland may ask for more detail.

More free resources for homeschooling in Australia.