A key recommendation from this inquiry is for the Australian Government to work with state and territory education authorities, and the non-government school sector, to develop and promote resources about 'school refusal', once a nationally agreed definition has been established, for parents, teachers and school leaders.

This evaluation was commissioned to assess the impact of the New Zealand Healthy School Lunches programme on secondary school-aged learners’ wellbeing, as well as the impact of the programme on attendance among all age groups.

School attendance has been declining in New Zealand since 2015 across all year levels, deciles, ethnicities and regions. This strategy document forms the response to a recent inquiry report from the Education and Workforce Select Committee, and provides the framework for a nationwide campaign to lift student attendance and engagement.

Indigenous educational disadvantage remains among the most pressing and persistent public policy challenges in Australia. This research examines sources and extent of Indigenous educational disadvantage and proposes how policymakers can better meet the ambition of closing the gap.

This study’s results are relevant to academics, policy makers and practitioners, both in Australia and overseas, in the pursuit of evidence-based policy that makes a positive, sustained impact on truancy: a perennial and costly social problem.