Quality in the schools sector is interpreted as leading to successful and measurable student outcomes across the whole spectrum of academic, social and cultural pursuits, enabling students to develop life-long learning skills that will enhance their capacity to be productive members of society. Quality assurance measures include self-regulation at school level, on-going strategic professional development of teachers, national benchmarking of basic literacy and numeracy skills, and annual reporting against State/Territory policy objectives. As a condition of funding, all schools must commit to the National Goals for Schooling for the Twenty-first Century and report their achievements against them. There are additional legal requirements relating to child protection obligations.
The Schools sector includes government and non-government institutions. Non-government schools must meet the criteria established by legislation in the relevant State or Territory in order to be registered to operate. There are different registration requirements depending on the level of schooling to be provided (e.g. primary, Years 7-10, Years 11-12). Registration requirements can vary across States and Territories, but all requirements focus on the essential elements of appropriate facilities, teaching staff, courses of study and numbers of students. Registration is initially provisional and schools must apply for registration renewal periodically.
A statutory body in each State and Territory has the responsibility for issuing and assuring the quality of the AQF school qualification, the Senior Secondary Education Certificate (SSCE) (local titles are used at State/Territory level), in compliance with AQF guidelines. The quality of the qualification is also supported by a broader context of overall national objectives for schooling. The specific measures vary from State to State, but generally these statutory bodies monitor the quality of the SSCE on three levels: curriculum development to achieve the best possible range of skills and knowledge and to identify explicit standards as a basis for reliable assessment; a process of registration and accreditation to control consistency of standards and the currency of the qualification; and moderation procedures to achieve comparability of student results.
Government schools are automatically accredited to offer the SSCE, but registered non-government schools must gain and retain accreditation by the appropriate State/Territory Statutory Board to be able to present candidates for the SSCE. This involves demonstrating that requirements relating to courses of study for the SSCE are being (or will be) met.