Thursday, 28 August 2025

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (23:45): (1910) My adjournment matter this evening is for the attention of the Minister for Education. Mainstream education does not serve the needs of every child or family. There are a variety of reasons for this. Sometimes kids have special needs, sometimes they have experienced bullying and sometimes they simply do not respond well to the structure and environment of a classroom. For many families, though, the education disruptions of COVID changed things forever. Some families discovered that homeschooling really worked for them, and others are dealing with ongoing impacts, with the term ‘school refusal’ becoming a mainstream term. The TV program A Current Affair recently featured Lydia Denker and her tutoring company Homeschool Academy Australia. As Lydia stated on the program, by the time families contact her they are often in tears, as she is their last resort. The support offered by her tutoring service is considered essential for the families that use it. The families that were quoted in the TV segment seemed baffled as to why the regulator was targeting the homeschool academy when there was not anything wrong with the service and the service they were providing was highly valued. Frankly, I am confused too. My request for the minister is to do whatever is required to ensure that the homeschool academy can continue to operate and support families in home education.