For students like those across Australia's classrooms, missing school used to be rare. Not anymore. In 2024, only 59.8% of students in Years 1 through 10 attended school for at least 90% of school days, down from 71% in 2019. The shift is stark: within five years, Australia has moved from having most students attending regularly to having most missing significant amounts of school. On any given day, 11% of students are absent.
The decline is not evenly distributed. New South Wales experienced a 3.5 percentage point drop in attendance between 2023 and 2024, while Victoria saw an even steeper 4.3 point decline. Government schools averaged 87.1% attendance in 2024, compared to 90.1% in Catholic schools and 91% in independent schools. Students in remote areas averaged 81% attendance, while those in major cities averaged 89.2%. The pattern is consistent: disadvantaged students are more likely to miss school, and the gap is widening.
The data tells a consistent story: the drivers of absence have shifted. In 2024, students missed an average of 11.6 days due to illness or medical appointments, up from 6.6 days in 2017. School absences for family reasons, including term-time holidays, more than doubled over the same period. Students with disabilities are more likely to be absent than those without. Mental health and wellbeing challenges are also linked to higher absence rates.
Federal and state education ministers have committed to lifting Australia's school attendance rate back to 91%, the 2019 level, by the end of the decade. But researchers at the Grattan Institute argue the target will require far more than minor adjustments. Better data systems are essential; clearer health guidance for families about when a child can safely attend school would help; and coordinated action across schools, health services, and communities would ensure every child can learn every day.
The challenge is real. Families facing cost-of-living pressures, students managing chronic illness or mental health difficulties, and schools stretched by competing demands have all contributed to the slide. What's also clear is that chronic absenteeism compounds disadvantage. The question now is whether Australia can move from commitment to the systematic action required to turn the trend around before an entire cohort falls further behind.