Preparing school reports for parents is a Commonwealth Government requirement. Given the significant time invested in preparing reports, this paper seeks to contribute to public policy discussions on school reports by presenting the views of parents. The findings support some existing evidence for reporting practices, while providing clearer insights into how reporting could improve.

Teachers and principals have consistently reported that compliance requirements take precious time away from teaching. Teacher workloads have increased because of this compliance burden. This report addresses this burden and recommends solutions that allow teachers and principals more time to focus on their students.

This Issues Brief explains that decisions about the opening and closing of schools and the school calendar are, for non-government schools, largely left in local hands. This arrangement is the result of over a century of productive dialogue between the government and the non-government school sector.