Under the School Education Act 1999 children are entitled to be enrolled at a public school provided they meet residential qualifications.
The three objectives which apply in determining eligibility for a particular school involve:
- Giving parents the right to apply to enrol in a school of their choice. Acceptance of the application for enrolment is subject to provisions outlined in the policy;
- Maximising local access to students. The Act provides for local-intake schools and schools without a local-intake area. A school under enrolment pressure may be declared to be a local-intake school by the delineation of a local-intake area. All compulsory-aged children who live in the local-intake area are guaranteed enrolment. The same guarantee applies at the pre-compulsory level subject to the availablility of accommodation, as defined in Section 6.8 of this policy; and
- Recognising the rights of a child to an appropriate education program, as defined in Section 5.4 of this policy, and expressed in the School Education Act 1999 and relevant national legislation.
Principles
- Enrolment processes must be fair, open and transparent.
- A student may only be enrolled at one school.