Girl sad outside school in uniform

Is your child or young person struggling with school attendance?

At School Can’t Australia we understand the challenges and distress of caring for a child or young person experiencing school attendance difficulties.

As Australia's largest parent/carer support network and lived-experience knowledge organisation for school attendance difficulties, we're here to offer support, guidance, and understanding grounded in collective wisdom from over 16,500 families.

It is important to note that School Can’t is not a behaviour problem. It’s a nervous system response to stress. Children are not choosing this. Parents are not causing it. Prioritise wellbeing and psychological safety.

Parent / carer resources

16,500+

members in our Facebook
support group

38%

of year 1-10 kids were
chronically absent in 2023

10+ years

of co-created lived experience knowledge and peer support

INTRODUCING

School Can’t Australia

School Can't Australia is a lived-experience knowledge organisation and home to Australia's largest support network for parents and carers supporting young people with school attendance difficulties.

Since 2014, starting as a Facebook parent carer peer support group, we've grown to represent over 16,500 families, building Australia's most comprehensive collective of lived experience expertise in this area.

We are run by volunteers who are themselves parents and carers. We provide support and resources for families while using our collective insights to influence policy and practice across education, disability, and mental health.

SCA currently has over 16,500 members with a significant waitlist to join the Facebook group. Membership requests have been doubling in size every twelve months. We urgently require funding.

You can read our submission to the Submission to Federal Senate Inquiry into School Refusal here.

HOW WE

Help the community

Support

We facilitate a peer support community for parents and carers of children experiencing school attendance difficulties in a private Facebook group.

The group helps reduce social isolation and distress, providing a safe space for parents and carers to learn from lived experience wisdom and connect with others who understand..

Empower

We provide the tools, support, resources and community for parents and carers to become empowered and confident advocates.

We assist parents to reframe and make sense of their children's and young people's experiences.

We empower health and education professionals with knowledge about school can’t informed by our lived experience.

Advocate

As we advocate for systemic change across mental health, education, disability and welfare, we highlight the lived experiences of children and young people and their parents and carers.

We believe every child has the right to an accessible and inclusive education, to feel safe and to be treated with compassion.

  • How our members feel they have benefited from our community as shared by members for School Can’t Australia’s Senate inquiry submission

  • With finding this group I found support. We were no longer alone. I was able to learn and change my mindset, understanding and thinking. I became a better advocate and support to my child and was able to rebuild our connection after many years of old hat unhelpful "make her go" advice. Understanding that it's "can't go not won't go" changed our lives and I truly believes saved our child. Our son now benefits from the ongoing support of this group and hopefully his journey will be one without school based and academic trauma.

    Mother of four children, two of whom are autistic with ADHD and experience school can't ages 9 and 17

  • Until I found this group I felt like I was doing something wrong as a parent. The trauma-informed advice here helped me repair my relationship with my children.

    Mum of 2 school can’t teens, diagnosed late with ADHD, anxiety, autism

  • Even as a teacher with 20+ years’ experience, I was still blind-sided by School Can’t. After initially feeling like a failure, I realised how the system is failing so many students, & how much of it is teachers being unaware. This group has been a lifeline of support, encouragement & resources to help shift us from feeling like failures to realising we are not alone & there are many ways through the education maze.

    Mum of 2 School Can’ts, aged 16 & 14.

  • I watched my child’s mental health decline. All the while school was telling me I had to force myself to take my child to school, and make home traumatic so school was more appealing. The icing on this cake was legal threats from the education department for my refusal/inability to force my child. Their mental health is still affected with PTSD from the cruel punishments and treatment from both primary and secondary schools. Exclusion from school camp, exclusion due to disability and staff physically dragging my child from the classroom will linger as trauma for many years.

    Mum to 19 year old diagnosed with ADHD PDA Autism PTSD Anxiety Depression GAD

  • The help from this group meant that my child was able to complete Years 9 and 10 through Distance Education. I learned strategies to cope with the local public school and the Education Department. This Facebook group literally changed my and my child's life for the better. It has also meant that I don't feel so isolated and alone.

    Anon.

  • As a result of this group, when I enter difficult meetings with school, I no longer feel alone. Instead I feel informed, knowledgeable and supported. I am able to use all I have learnt from this group along with their strength to better advocate for my child and to improve their outcomes. The leaders of this group should be considered for citizens awards for what they have done to support so many families and to shed light on this debilitating and stressful issue affecting thousands of Australian children. Without them we would not have come as far as we have in advocating for the health of happiness of these young Australians who are experiencing debilitating distress just trying to attend school like every other child.

    Mum to 8 year old with GAD