This evaluation and department reponse to the recommendations were originally published 3 March 2026.

The department’s response to the recommendations is in draft and under consultation from 4–18 March 2026.

Summary

The Home School Liaison Program (HSLP) aims to support students to engage and participate in their education, and to support parents, schools and students in meeting their legislative responsibilities around school attendance.

The primary aims of this evaluation were to investigate how well the HSLP is working, to determine the impact of the program on student attendance, and to make recommendations for optimising program delivery. The evaluation used mixed methods to gather and analyse data for both the process and outcome evaluation questions.

Department response to the evaluation

The findings and recommendations from CESE's evaluation of the Home School Liaison Program have informed the redesign of the program to better support students at highest level of need. This forms the basis for the department’s response to all of the findings and recommendations of the evaluation.