sofatutor / Unsplash
CV NEWS FEED // Homeschooling appears to be picking up steam in Australia, with record numbers of families across the country choosing to educate their children themselves.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News reported that roughly 45,000 Australian children were registered as homeschooled last year. Parents and education experts said the reasons for choosing homeschooling differ from family to family.
Speaking to ABC News, Leon Lumby and his wife, Kelly Lumby, explained their own homeschooling routine for their four children. The Lumbys are part of a community of homeschooling parents in their area that allows them to educate their children together in some subjects, including sports and exercise classes. According to Leon Lumby, having children of several different ages learning together teaches the students several lessons.
“The older kids help the younger kids, and it helps them to just sort of be more understanding of different people’s abilities,” he said.
Kelly Lumby added that she wanted to homeschool in order to remain close to her children.
“I like the fact that we have this big family, that we’re homeschooling, that we’re always in each other’s face,” she said, adding that she wanted to be there to witness her children’s development and educational milestones firsthand.
ABC News reported that in Queensland, where the Lumbys live, homeschooling registrations went from 4,297 in 2020 to 11,314 in 2024, with primary year levels growing 112.2% and secondary year levels growing 221.7%.
According to Queensland University of Technology Education lecturer Rebecca English, perceptions of a standard education are now shifting to something more personal and individualized.
“You look at the people who are taking a year off to go travel … or people who are just more willing to let their kids have a day off here and there,” English said. “Things have really changed about how we perceive our relationship with institutional school.”
English also pointed out that the cost of homeschooling is often far less than sending a child to public school from pre-K to 12th grade. ABC News reported that the total cost for public school in Australia is $123,294 AUD, or roughly $77,404 USD.
“The downside, of course, is that sometimes parents will drop back to part-time [employment], or one parent will quit their job,” English continued.
However, for an increasing number of Australian families, the benefits of homeschooling seem to be worth it.
