Labor Says Homeschooling is a Threat to Australia
Conservatives Targeted
Homeschooling parents all around Australia are worried. They wake up each morning and pour themselves into educating their children. They want to give their children an education rooted in their faith, values, and vision for who they want them to become. These homeschooling families look at the indoctrination being done in government schools and say that they don’t want their children exposed to ideas they fundamentally disagree with.
Imagine their shock and horror when they heard Federal Labor frontbencher Julian Hill say that homeschoolers are a threat to Australia’s multiculturalist social cohesion.[1] He particularly called out conservative curricula as a threat, asking “What is being taught to these kids?” and proposing that the government should force homeschooled kids to participate in programs that help them integrate into modern Australia.
If the government mandates that homeschooled children must attend state-approved programs, it is no longer the parent who determines what values, ideas, and perspectives their child is exposed to. It is the state. Do you think that state-approved programs will reflect the values of a conservative, religious, or traditional family?
Labor’s Previous Attack
In 2024, the then-Queensland Labor government proposed sweeping new changes to regulations around homeschooling that would have forced families to adopt the Australian Curriculum. It also introduced “guiding principles” around homeschooling that it be provided in a way that is in “the best interests of the child or young person taking into account their safety and wellbeing”, without defining the meaning of these terms, or the means of assessing those conditions; and without providing what new powers may be created and given to a government body to enforce these conditions.[2]
The same principle of considering a child’s best interests is the same principle that other states use to allow schools to indoctrinate children with gender ideology without their parents’ knowledge. Examples include Victoria’s Safe Schools program, and South Australia’s Supporting gender diverse, intersex and sexually diverse children and young people policy.[3] Vague language has a history of being filled in later by whoever holds office, and the language of ‘best interests’ could have been weaponised if this bill was passed.
The problem is that the attitudes and actions of Labor governments and ministers towards the homeschooling community have provided no trust in their judgements. These proposed changes by the then-Queensland Labor government were done without any consultation with the homeschooling community. Considering their track record, it seems unlikely that the Federal Labor government would consult the homeschooling community on federal legislation.
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Also read: How the LGBT-lobby tries to influence your children
Homeschooling Families are on the Rise
The concerns from Labor governments come as homeschooling has surged in popularity. Homeschool registrations have grown 116% in New South Wales, 85% in Victoria, and a staggering 232% in Queensland in just 5 years.[4] In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, many families chose to begin homeschooling. Some did so because their children had special needs that the school system wasn’t meeting. Some did so because they felt the teaching at government schools was inadequate. And many — perhaps the majority — did so because they wanted to raise their children in accordance with their faith, moral convictions, and cultural values.
Parents are the primary educators of their children, and they have every right to raise their children the way they think is best. However, powerful activists at the NSW Teachers Federation, a trade union for government school teachers, believe that the state is primarily responsible for the education of all children.[5] They said in a submission they made regarding homeschooling that,
“The Federation acknowledges that the Act [Education Act 1990] makes provision for home schooling as a legal option for parents when educating their children. However, this provision still exists under the same principles and ministerial responsibilities regarding a child's right to a quality education. This right must at all times take precedence over a parent/carer's desire to choose the manner in which they educate their child. The State has a responsibility to ensure that all children being home schooled are not at risk of being denied access to this basic human right.”
The NSW Teachers Federation go further, implying that a parent wanting to homeschool their child should be held suspect of violating their child’s ‘rights’. They say, “A parent/carer choosing to homeschool his/her child must demonstrate they are not infringing upon that child's rights in the process.” This is a reversal of the presumption of innocence, the basis on which Australia’s legal system is built. Why does the NSW Teacher’s Federation apply this suspicion to homeschooling and not to the government education system? Is it not infringing on a child’s rights to be indoctrinated by gender ideology in a state-funded school? An ideology that can lead to mental health issues, bodily mutilation, and, in the most severe instances, suicide.
What You Can Do
If you want to support homeschooling families from these unjust attacks by Labor and the NSW Teachers Federation, you can tell them to leave homeschoolers alone with our petition. You can find our petition here.
References:
- https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/24/increase-in-religious-schools-and-home-schooling-could-prevent-deeper-social-cohesion-julian-hill-says; https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/JulianHill/Pages/speech-mckell-institute-25022026.aspx
- https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-the-Assembly/Petitions/petition-details/4048-24
- https://www.stpatstech.sa.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Safe-Schools-Coalition-Australia.pdf, https://www.education.sa.gov.au/policies/shared/supporting-gender-diverse-intersex-sexually-diverse-children-young-people-policy.pdf
- https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/JulianHill/Pages/speech-mckell-institute-25022026.aspx
- https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/submissions/52625/0079%20NSW%20Teachers%20Federation.pdf