Our performance

​​Non-government school regulation

We maintained procedural safeguards to ensure our regulatory functions are transparent, and that regulatory and delivery functions are appropriately separated.

We regulated independent schools, and audited and reviewed the regulation of Catholic schools against the:

• School Education Act 1999 (WA)
• registration standards set by the Minister
• Minister’s system agreement with Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA)
• policies adopted by the Director General.

The Director General assessed compliance of non‑government schools with the registration standards and other requirements. In 2023–24, the Director General approved:

• 32 registration renewals
• 22 registration changes.

We provided secretariat services to the Minister’s Non‑Government Schools Planning Advisory Panel and to the Non‑Government School Registration Advisory Panel.

 

Non-government school funding

We allocated funding to Catholic and independent schools based on a formula approved by the Minister.

Funding was allocated on a per student basis in accordance with the requirements of the National School Reform Agreement. The annual non‑government schools funding order and guidelines were issued by the Minister and set out funding amounts, and accountability and eligibility requirements.

The main sources of funding for non‑government schools were:

• Australian Government grants
• state government grants
• tuition fees paid by parents.

In 2023–24, we allocated more than $451 million in recurrent financial assistance for 162,822 students in non‑government schools (almost $434 million for 158,351 students in 2022–23). This amount included $40.4 million to support students with special educational needs ($36.5 million in 2022–23).

We allocated over $6.8 million to CEWA and the Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia (AISWA) to administer the state government’s Non‑Government School Psychology Service (over $6.0 million in 2022–23). The additional funding is being provided following a state government election commitment to increase the provision of psychological services in schools.

We also allocated almost $1.6 million to CEWA and AISWA to support the re‑engagement of students at educational risk, and $181,000 to the Australian Music Examinations Board (WA).

Through the Low Interest Loan Scheme, there were 297 active loans for non‑government schools and The University of Notre Dame Australia, with an outstanding balance of $399.8 million (Table 4). Of the $43.7 million advanced in 2023–24, $33.1 million was for new works and $10.6 million was for works in progress (Table 5).

Table 4: Low interest loans summary 2021–22 to 2023–24

	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24
Balance outstanding	$388.6m	$397.9m	$399.8m
Number of active low interest loans	316	310	297

_{Source: Education Business Services}

 

Table 5: Low interest loans nature of works summary 2021–22 to 2023–24

	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24
New works	$43.9m	$33.7m	$33.1m
Works in progress	$6.0m	$14.7m	$10.6m

_{Source: Education Business Services}

Refer to our website for further information about the provision of per capita grant funding to non‑government schools. This includes financial assistance provided to individual schools in 2023–24 and a list of schools that received loans.

 

Home education

We are responsible for registering home educators, and evaluating home education programs and children’s educational progress. In 2023–24, we provided an average of 41.3 full‑time equivalent home education moderators and administrative staff to meet this commitment. For the number of students registered to receive home education, refer to Table A11.

School curriculum and standards

We provided services and support to the School Curriculum and Standards Authority through a service level agreement to ensure it delivered its functions of:

• developing and maintaining the Kindergarten to Year 12 curriculum and syllabuses
• assessments, examinations, reporting and certification
• monitoring and reporting on standards of student achievement
• expansion of the provision of the Western Australian curriculum Kindergarten to Year 10 and the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) offshore.

As an independent statutory body with its functions prescribed in the School Curriculum and Standards Authority Act 1997 (WA), the Authority tables its own annual report in the Western Australian Parliament.

 

Teacher registration

We provided support services to the Teacher Registration Board of Western Australia to ensure it delivered its functions of:

• registering and re‑registering those persons who meet all legal requirements to be teachers in Western Australia
• taking action against those who teach without being registered, employers who employ unregistered teachers and registered teachers who are no longer entitled to be registered
• administering the disciplinary and impairment review processes
• accrediting initial teacher education programs delivered by Western Australian educational institutions.

We ensured the Board received independent advice and support from our staff; that confidential information and data collected and managed was protected through secure internal systems and processes; and that investigations undertaken were rigorous and procedurally fair, with the best interests of children the paramount consideration.

The scheme of teacher registration administered by the Board is designed to ensure that persons registered are suitably qualified, suitably proficient in English and are fit and proper.

As an independent statutory body with its functions prescribed in the Teacher Registration Act 2012 (WA), the Teacher Registration Board of Western Australia produces its own annual report, which is included in this report.

The Department’s annual report includes key performance indicators and budget matters related to the Board.

 

Non‑government schools planning

We provided secretariat support to the Minister’s Non‑Government Schools Planning Advisory Panel. The panel provided advice to the Minister on 9 planning proposals seeking advance determination to establish a non‑government school or to make a significant registration change.

 

Non‑government school registration

We provided secretariat services to the Non‑Government School Registration Advisory Panel. Non‑government school bodies may seek reviews of decisions by the Department or the Minister about registration of non‑government schools. The panel reports to the Minister with its recommendations. There were no requests for a review in 2023–24.

 

Higher education

We provided secretariat services to the Western Australian Higher Education Council, chaired by the Minister and comprising the vice‑chancellors of Western Australia’s 5 universities. The council met 5 times in 2023–24 on strategic matters of mutual interest between the universities and the state government. We have plans to enhance our higher education team in the coming year to perform an expanded strategic role within the state to promote an increased collaboration across the different levels of government and the state’s universities.

 

Rural and remote education

We provided secretariat services to the Rural and Remote Education Advisory Council, chaired by Ms Jodie Hanns MLA and comprising key education stakeholders and community representatives to address priority issues for rural and remote education. In 2023–24, the council met 5 times, with 1 meeting held in a regional location over 2 days.