This report argues Australia is facing a growing crisis in boys' education. This phenomenon is not new in New South Wales (NSW) or Australia and international research demonstrates similar disparities in comparable countries. The report highlights gender gaps in academic outcomes in Australian schools which demonstrate that boys are falling behind, and examines public discourse on the causes and policy responses. 

It reveals that boys are struggling in literacy and are over-represented among the most academically vulnerable school students. This trend is driving adverse outcomes for young men in higher educational attainment, employment participation, and other stages of life. 

While educational gender gaps in schooling are often framed around the average differences between boys and girls, a pressing concern lies in the over-representation of boys among the lowest performing students. NAPLAN data reveals boys are twice as likely as girls to score in the lowest performance bands in the literacy domains. In numeracy, where boys traditionally outperform girls on average, the weakest performers are equally likely to be boys. 

Despite this, the educational underperformance of boys has not received commensurate policy attention. Government monitoring and reporting often focuses on areas where girls lag, while overlooking even wider disparities to the detriment of boys. While it is important to address gender gaps that disadvantage girls, such as in Mathematics and certain STEM subjects, these do not preclude complementary efforts to close other gender gaps that negatively affect boys.