National standards for student attendance data reporting

Student attendance rates are specified as a performance indicator within the National Education Agreement and as a key performance measure (KPM) in the Measurement Framework for Schooling in Australia. ACARA developed the National Standards for Student Attendance Data Reporting - Third Edition (PDF 375 kb) to establish a nationally consistent set of parameters for the collection and reporting of student attendance data. This will enable the consistent reporting by jurisdictions and sectors of the key performance measure. The national standards have been developed in collaboration with jurisdiction and sector representatives and endorsed by all states and territories.

The national standards are applicable to students in Years 1–10 for all government, Catholic and independent schools in Australia.

Key components outlined in the national standards are:

  • attendance rate calculation formula
  • actual days in attendance (numerator)
  • number of possible school days (denominator)
  • level of disaggregation
  • data collection period
  • school types
  • student enrolment types
  • movement during collection period
  • part-day absences
  • ungraded students
  • treatment of incidents/absences.