The CLP Government is delivering on another election commitment, bringing back truancy officers to get kids to school after the previous Labor government abolished them.
The truancy officers will be known as School Attendance Officers, and they have commenced patrols this month.
The new School Attendance Officers will be tasked with issuing compliance and infringement notices including $370 fines for parents who break the law and fail to send their kids to school.
Minister for Education and Training Jo Hersey said no parent had the right to deprive their child of a future.
“The CLP Government is introducing new School Attendance Officers across the Territory to hold parents accountable if they break the law and fail to send their children to school,” she said.
“Parents who fail to send their children to school without a valid reason will face fines of $370, compulsory case conferences, and in extreme cases prosecution.
“We will also work with the Commonwealth on referring families who continue to deprive their children of an education for income management for neglecting their children.
“A child’s future starts at school. Parents have a legal obligation to keep their children engaged with schooling. School Attendance Officers will enforce the law and for those parents who need help, connect them with services to keep their children in school.”
Under the previous Government, Labor abolished truancy officers who had powers to get kids to school, which saw school attendance rates go backwards.
From 2016 to 2023, annual attendance in the Barkly region dropped from 62% to 46%, in the Big Rivers region attendance dropped from 71% to 58% over the same period, Central region dropped to 66% and the East Arnhem region dropped to 54%.
“The previous Labor Government failed to enforce the law and so far in 2024 issued just 25 fines to parents who failed to send their children to school despite shockingly low attendance rates across the Territory,” said Mrs Hersey.
The new School Attendance Offices will undertake patrols of identified areas where school aged children are known to frequent during school hours.
This includes shopping precincts, retail outlets, public housing complexes and public spaces.
Ms Hersey recently participated in a compliance patrol of the Palmerston CBD to experience firsthand the work of the school attendance officers.
