Standard 6: Enrolment and Attendance

‍The Registration Requirement

Under the Guide to the registration standards and other requirements for non-government schools effective 1 January 2024, the Director General must be satisfied that your student enrolment and attendance procedures and practices comply with all legal requirements. Your governing body and school leadership are legally responsible for maintaining accurate, unassailable registers and ensuring that your administrative tracking pathways are entirely free from unlawful discrimination.

To satisfy this standard, your school must demonstrate a proactive, rigorous framework for managing student records, tracking compulsory education periods, administering immunisation status checks, and executing structured interventions to locate missing students or restore regular attendance.

💡 Expert Compliance Note: Student record keeping is one of the most heavily scrutinised areas during a renewal review. Case managers will explicitly cross check your active enrolment register fields, student files, and daily attendance codes against legislative thresholds. Gaps in statutory information fields, unnotified student transfers, or missing parent explanations for extended absences can trigger an immediate non-compliance finding. The templates in our bundle are systematically engineered to minimise these regulatory risk flags from day one.

‍Official References

The application form and guide are available for download via the links below.

‍ 👉 Application for renewal of registration document.

‍ 👉 Guide to the registration standards and other requirements for non-government schools effective 1 January 2024‍ ‍

Your Downloadable Template Bundle

‍Your membership includes full access to our Enrolment and Attendance Templates Bundle. This all in one ZIP file contains every document, policy, and register required to build a compliant board framework.

‍ 👉 Download Enrolment and Attendance Templates Bundle ZIP File

📌 Please Note: Not all of these templates will suit your school, but they give you a good range to get through registration.

‍Inside your download, you will find:

• Enrolment and Admissions Frameworks

• Enrolment Form

• Enrolment Form (First Nations Student Focused)

• Enrolment Form (Religious)

• Enrolment Letter of Offer and Acceptance

• Enrolment Policy and Procedure

• International Student Enrolment Policy

• Student Transfer Procedure

• Student Transfer Advice Form

• Department of Education Interstate Student Data Transfer Note

• Attendance, Duty of Care, and Student Conduct

• Access, Safe Arrival, Departure Policy and Procedure

• Attendance Policy and Procedure

• Code of Conduct Student Policy

• Managing Performance, Misconduct, and Absenteeism Policy and Procedure

• Uniform and Personal Presentation Policy

• Young Student Friendly Code of Conduct Picture Board

• Community Partnership and Family Law Compliance

• Code of Conduct Family Policy

• Family Law Managing Family Arrangements Policy

• Family Law Third Party Consent Form

• Student & Family Partnership Declaration

• Records Management and Unique Identifiers

• Contemporaneous Records Procedure

• Filing and Records Management Policy and Procedure

• Record Disposal Authorisation Form

• Student Health Care Summary

• Unique Student Identifier Procedure

• Yearly Standard Collection Notice

• Inclusion and Workplace Learning Pathways

• Disability Discrimination Policy

• Student Workplace Learning Management Plan

• Student Workplace Learning Parent Consent Form

• Student Workplace Learning, Apprenticeships and Traineeships Policy

Internal School Evidence

Recommended Checklist for Part B Submission: To help build out your submission folder for Part B of the Application for renewal of registration, we recommend gathering these key internal files from your school records. Please note that while these specific documents are recommended to help evidence your compliance, this is a practical guide rather than an exhaustive checklist.

• The Active Electronic Enrolment Register: A clean extract of your live school database proving it explicitly captures the student's name, date of birth, date of enrolment, departure dates, immunisation status, and Medicare number.

  Sample AIR Immunisation History Statements: De-identified copies of current Australian Immunisation Register printouts (no older than two months at entry) to verify your entry gate reviews.

  Sample Attendance Register Logs: A formal export of your daily attendance records, proving that morning and afternoon rolls are systematically completed and code governed.

  Official School Exemption Certificates: Copies of signed Application for Exemption or formal Notice of Arrangements forms tracking students who have moved into full-time workplace or apprenticeship tracks before turning 18.

  Historical SWU Notification Form Submissions: Copies of finalised, dated requests submitted to the Department of Education's Student Tracking Coordinator for students whose whereabouts became unknown, demonstrating strict compliance with the 15 day escalation timeline.

  De-identified Student Transfer Notifications: Completed administrative records of formal notifications sent or received via the SCSA or directly between schools confirming tracking data for ceased enrolments.

  Compulsory Education Exemption Approvals: Signed approvals and ministerial notice determinations from the Department of Education authorising modified educational arrangements or exemptions for eligible cohorts.

  Parental Absence Explanation Correspondence Trails: Random anonymised samples of SMS logs, written notes, or formal emails from parents detailing reasons for student absences, matched against specific attendance register verification codes.

  Attendance Intervention Case Files: Anonymised copies of formal attendance improvement plans, meeting minutes with parents/guardians, and documented re-engagement strategies deployed for chronically absent students.

  Enrolment Appeal and Adjustment Logs: Evidence or formal case file extracts showing how the school processes admissions adjustments, documenting structured, non-discriminatory access loops for enrolees under disability framework guidelines.

  Data Archive Destruction and Disposal Ledgers: Copies of finalised Record Disposal Authorisation Forms proving that student files are locked down for the required 7 year post-departure window before any physical or digital destruction is authorised.

  Chief Health Officer Immunisation Exemption Certificates: Where applicable, de-identified copies of verified statutory medical exemption records held on file for students enrolled in early years cohorts under authorised catch up pathways.

• Completed Historical Student Transfer Advice Forms: Random anonymised folders showing fully executed intra-state records requests matching parent acknowledgments and principal authorisations.

• Executed Interstate Transfer Note Consent Records: Copies of finalised interstate data notes showing specific permission options marked for outbound student cohorts.

Compliance Tips & Hidden Requirements

School registration reviews in WA have a few unique, specific traps that catch boards out. Make sure your team knows these hidden rules:

• The Pre-K & Kindergarten Immunisation Entry Ban (Page 30): The guide enforces a strict gateway restriction for early years intake. Under the Public Health Act 2016 (WA), a school cannot enroll a child into Pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten unless their AIR Immunisation History Statement is up to date, on an approved catch-up schedule, or holds a valid exemption. Enrolling a student without verifying this status is a direct compliance breach carrying structural penalties.

  The Strict Two Month Sighting Currency Window (Page 30): When reviewing an AIR Immunisation History Statement for a newly enrolling student, your admissions team cannot accept historical records. The guide explicitly dictates that the statement must be completely current meaning it can be no older than two months before being officially sighted by the school.

• The 14 Year Old Identity Consent Threshold (Page 30):When updating records for older cohorts, a student's age alters the administrative data path. The Australian Immunisation Register restricts automatic parental access to records once a child crosses a specific age barrier. Because of this rule, students who are 14 years or older must provide their own direct consent for the register to release their statement.

  The Complete 6 Field Enrolment Register Footprint (Page 30):Your school's electronic administration software cannot simply track general contact details. To satisfy section 19 of the Act and regulation 6(1), the master register export must show 6 specific, uncompromised fields for every single student. The required fields are: the student's full name, date of birth, date of enrolment, date on which enrolment ceases, immunisation status (AIR statement), and the name of the school at which the student was last enrolled (if any).

  The 15 Day Missing Student Notification Deadline (Page 33, 34): If a student goes missing, their whereabouts are completely unknown, and the parent cannot be contacted, you cannot simply leave them on your rolls or remove them quietly. The guide mandates that you must actively implement your tracking strategies and formally complete and submit a REQUEST TO PLACE A STUDENT ONTO THE STUDENTS WHOSE WHEREABOUTS ARE UNKNOWN (SWU) LIST to the Department of Education's Student Tracking Coordinator within 15 school days of their last active date of attendance.

  The Absolute 7 Year Post Departure Archive Lock (Page 32): Your administrative procedures must enforce strict retention blocks that tie back to legal regulations. Every student’s master enrolment record and their complete daily attendance history must be legally retained by the school. This documentation must be stored securely for a mandatory period of seven years from the exact day on which the student's enrolment officially ceases.

  The Non-Government "Transfer Note" Trigger Requirement (Page 32, 33): When a student departs your school to transfer to another campus within WA, the Principal's authority to remove their name from the active roll is heavily limited. Under regulation 11, the Principal is legally required to issue an official notification to the Principal of the student's previous or subsequent school and SCSA. A student must remain active on your roll until a formal transfer note or tracking clearance is achieved; you cannot drop non-attenders off the roll without an allowable, documented transfer reason.

  The Equity of Access Mandate (Pages 29, 33): An immediate way to fail an enrolment review is to operate a policy that creates unlawful barriers to entry. Case managers check that your formal enrolment procedures comply with the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (WA) and the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth). Your documentation must explicitly outline a timely process for identifying and implementing reasonable adjustments to ensure applicants with a disability are afforded complete equity of access.

• The Half Day Daily Attendance Tracking Mandate (Page 31): Your administrative processes cannot rely on a single, generic daily roll call check. Standard 6 mandates that student attendance must be formally taken, verified, and electronically recorded at least twice daily separately capturing morning (AM) and afternoon (PM) attendance footprints. Failure to split daily tracking into these distinct half-day segments highlights a direct registration breach during a compliance review.

  The Parent Absence Notification "Clock" (Page 31): When a student fails to arrive at school, your tracking policy cannot allow unexplained absences to sit quietly. Under the Guide's attendance procedures, the school must operate a formalised system that ensures a parent or guardian is systematically contacted on the same day of an unexplained absence. Your administrative workflows must keep clear, dated logs of these outbound alerts to prove compliant duty of care oversight.

  The Section 24 Alternative Attendance Pathway Lock (Pages 31–32): If a student is undertaking off-site training, workplace learning, or an alternative arrangement away from the main campus, they cannot simply be marked as a standard "present" or left off the rolls. Under Section 24 of the Act, any alternative educational arrangement must be explicitly authorised, and your Standard 6 register must utilize specific, compliant attendance codes that accurately track their off-site education status. The school retains complete oversight liability for the student during these off-site blocks.

  The Dual-Enrolment Prohibition Barrier (Page 29): An enrolment application cannot be processed in isolation if a student is actively listed on another school's register. Except under highly specific, ministerially approved shared learning agreements, a student cannot be concurrently enrolled at two separate educational institutions. Your intake procedures must include an explicit, documented verification step confirming that the student has been formally withdrawn from their previous campus before they are marked as an active, funding eligible student on your master register.

• The Critical Incident Verification Lock (Standard 7 / Standard 6 Intersect): If a student is added to the Students Whose Whereabouts Are Unknown (SWU) list, you cannot treat it as a pure administrative file closure. Under Standard 7, a student disappearing without a trace is classified as a critical incident. Your team must cross reference the SWU file with your Standard 7 logs, ensuring that the tracking process is formally documented as a critical incident response before the student is permanently archived.

  The Identity Protection Reporting Boundary (Standard 10 / Standard 6 Intersect): Standard 6 requires your enrolment register to be a complete, unredacted legal record of every student currently on your books. However, if a student becomes involved in a serious child protection matter handled under Standard 10, strict statutory secrecy clauses apply. While your internal master database must remain accurate for funding and attendance audits, any external extracts, board reports, or compliance dispute files generated from that register must immediately strip out identifying data and utilise secure, anonymous coding.

  The Medical Action Plan Expiry Trap (Standard 10 / Standard 6 Intersect): A student’s enrolment file is legally incomplete if their medical records are outdated. While Standard 6 covers the collection of health data upon entry, student care regulations under Standard 10 require that any student with a known high risk medical condition (such as anaphylaxis or epilepsy) must have a current medical action plan signed by a practitioner. If an audit reveals that a student is actively attending classes but their medical action plan has expired, the school fails both its enrolment tracking and its broader child safety compliance duties.

  The Staff Qualification Register Alignment (Standard 4 / Standard 6 Intersect): Your student attendance data and your staff tracking databases must align perfectly during a registration review. Standard 4 dictates that every person instructing students must hold valid Teacher Registration Board of WA (TRBWA) status or a valid authorization. Case managers will actively cross examine specific dates on your Standard 6 attendance registers against your Standard 4 staff timetables to verify that no student was left under the supervision of an unregistered or unapproved instructor.

House Operational Risk Tips (Not Explicitly in the Guide)

• Hide Government Issued Document Codes: When uploading sample AIR Immunisation History Statements, student attendance register logs, or electronic database exports to your Part B submission folder, ensure your front-office team hides all national system card sequences, Medicare line keys, or government document numbers. Use a clean placeholder label exactly like [ID Number Redacted] or [Unique Student Identifier Redacted] to keep private tracking strings entirely safe.

• Remove Names from Attendance Improvement Files: Your internal attendance intervention records, case histories, and formal re-engagement minutes frequently list highly sensitive family background information or personal crisis explanations. Make sure your administrative team systematically removes or covers up real student first names, family surnames, and home addresses, replacing them with generic tags like Student A or Family B before archiving.

• Lock Down Your Active Enrolment Database Export Paths: Restrict software access parameters so that only authorised admissions registrars can extract full, unredacted master enrolment tables. This stops accidental administrative modifications from altering your mandated six field historical records and prevents unvetted data leaks across your school's shared drives.

Compliance Quick Check

Before you finish, double check that your school leadership has reviewed and finalised these specific items, which are targeted by questions on the official renewal form:

• Does the school's master enrolment register capture all six mandatory statutory data fields for every single student currently on the books?

• Are clear, proactive, school-based procedures actively utilised to identify attendance issues early, follow up unexplained absences, and execute targeted re-engagement loops?

• Can you prove that every student who has ceased enrolment over the last 12 months was moved off the roll through a validated legal reason, complete with a verified school transfer notification?

📌 Now don’t forget to save your evidence in your created folder in your school's shared drive (Google Drive or OneDrive).