Every WA school from pre-primary to Year 10 must follow one document set by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA). This page quotes what it and the Department of Education actually require, so you can judge for yourself.
Key findings
1. One mandated curriculum, eight learning areas
- Fact: SCSA describes its Outline as setting out "the mandated curriculum" for every student from Kindergarten to Year 10, across English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, Languages, The Arts, Health and Physical Education, and Technologies. Every student must study a language from Year 3 to Year 8, both Technologies subjects and at least two Arts subjects to Year 8.
Sources: SCSA, Western Australian Curriculum; SCSA, Curriculum planning policy
2. No required hours for reading and maths
- Fact: SCSA says the Outline "does not mandate specified hours of learning". Its guidelines, which are "not mandatory", give English and Mathematics "about 50%" of class time to Year 6, falling to "30%" from Year 7. Up to 20% of the week is left for "religious education, physical activity, pastoral care, special projects or other activities".
- Our read: With no floor on literacy and numeracy time, it is up to each school how much the basics get.
Sources: SCSA, Notional Time Allocation Guidelines; SCSA, FAQs
3. Three "priorities" run through every subject
- Fact: The curriculum "gives special attention" to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia, and Sustainability. Nationally they are "embedded in content descriptions" where seen as core, not taught as a separate subject. In Science, listed contexts include "global climate change". SCSA says they "are not assessed unless they are identified within the core content".
- Our read: Because they are woven into other subjects, parents cannot easily see how much time they take.
Sources: SCSA, Cross-curriculum priorities; ACARA, Cross-curriculum priorities; SCSA, Science priorities
4. Consent lessons are compulsory from pre-primary
- Fact: In October 2022 the Government said consent education would be taught from pre-primary to Year 10 from 2024, because it was "currently taught ad hoc" and the change "will ensure it is taught to all students". In 2017 the Government told Parliament all schools are "required to teach the content of the Pre-primary to Year 10 Western Australian Curriculum, which includes sexuality education".
Sources: WA Government media statement, 11 Oct 2022; Parliament of WA, Question on notice 181, answered 13 Sep 2017
5. Respectful Relationships is optional for schools, but taxpayer funded
- Fact: The Government calls its Respectful Relationships Teaching Support Program "voluntary". It has run in public schools since 2019, focuses on "respectful relationships and gender equality", and has $2.2 million committed to keep it going, now expanding into Catholic and Independent schools.
Sources: WA Government media statement, 20 Aug 2024; Department of Communities, program page
6. Parents can opt out, but only by asking
- Fact: Under section 72 of the School Education Act 1999, a parent may apply in writing for their child to be exempted from classes where a particular part of a course is taught. The principal may grant it if satisfied the request is based on conscientious objection and meets the Department's instructions. An exemption can carry conditions and can be revoked if a condition is not kept. Principals are then expected to make "reasonable efforts" to provide "alternative means" for the child to reach "the same outcomes".
- Our read: The default is that the child attends; the parent must ask and the principal decides.
Sources: School Education Act 1999, s72; Department of Education, Exemption from Particular Classes guidelines
7. Cultural standards apply to every staff member
- Fact: The Department's Aboriginal Cultural Standards Framework is "applicable to all staff" and its sentiments "apply to all schools, even those with few or no Aboriginal student enrolments". Department guidelines say "all staff are encouraged to deliver an Acknowledgement of Country", but that it is "not appropriate" for schools to ask students to perform a Welcome to Country.
Sources: Department of Education, Aboriginal Cultural Standards Framework; Department of Education, Welcome and Acknowledgement guidelines
8. A $24.3 million rewrite, phased in to 2027
- Fact: WA did not take the national version 9 curriculum as is. It chose to "adopt and adapt" it, with $24.3 million in the 2023-24 Budget, rolling out by subject from 2024 to 2027. SCSA asked the national body for further work on Mathematics and Humanities before WA would take them up.
Sources: SCSA Annual Report 2023-24; SCSA letter to principals, 2022
9. Meanwhile, the basics are slipping
- Fact: Attendance in WA public schools fell from 91.1% in 2016 to 86.9% in 2025. In 2025, 13.9% of WA Year 3 students needed extra support in reading, according to The West Australian, against 10.8% nationally (ACARA). In WA public schools alone the Department's own figure is 15.6%. See our Education page for the full picture.
- Our read: Before adding more to the timetable, the curriculum should guarantee time for reading, writing and maths.
Sources: Productivity Commission, Report on Government Services 2026, School education; ACARA, NAPLAN 2025 results; The West Australian, 30 Jul 2025; Department of Education, NAPLAN 2025 summary of WA public school results