Back to School Dates in Australia 2019

When does the 2019 school year start?

The School Year start dates vary by state and territory throughout Australia. Each State and Territory Government sets its school start dates. Independent and Catholic schools tend to base their school start times around the Government school dates, but they do not always perfectly align. There are four terms throughout the school year, so it is important to make a note of the start date and end date for each term.

Why are the Back to School dates different from school to school?

Sometimes within a state or territory, there can be varied start dates depending on issues within a particular education system such as building maintenance, teacher professional development or special programs for students. All of these types of situations can cause delays or changes to the school term dates. In some cases, it is important also to make a note of the year your student is in as they may have different start and end dates depending on their year in school. For example, in some schools, the Year 12 students will not complete a full term four but take a break and return only for their Final exams.

Where is the back to school dates listed?

For the most accurate up to date information, the best choice is usually the school’s website. Many schools list their school term dates on their site detailing important start and end dates. Sometimes you will need to search a name like “school year calendar” or “term dates” to find it on the school’s web site. To search your school’s website, you will want to go to the site and see if they have a search bar on their site. Many school websites do. Once you find the search bar on the site, you can type in your search term. You also may have received the full school year calendar as an attachment in an email from the school. Below you will find a table that lists when schools are starting in the various Territories and States throughout Australia. This information was gathered from resources, such as, Australian Government and the Department of Education and Training.

If you have not had any luck finding your school specifically, you can probably get an idea of the dates from the Tables below. The tables detail the Term dates set out by Territory and State for the government funded schools. The tables features for 2017 terms as well as 2018.

Australian Capital Territory

New South Wales

Northern Territory

Queensland

South Australia

Tasmania

Victoria

Western Australia

Independent schools and free schools

The independent and private schools have many different start dates. While they use the guidelines of the government schools, they have more flexibility to change their dates based on many factors including religious holidays. The table below details some of the independent schools start dates as found on the independent school association page for the South Australia area. It is always best to double check your specific school’s website or call the school directly.

Association for Independent schools of South Australia *

*This is a guide; some schools might begin their Term 1 a week early. These schools will then take a three week break in April or July.