What Australian Schools Need to Know About Government Reporting

Meeting government reporting requirements is a non-negotiable – and often a significant pain point – for Australian schools. Whether it’s the annual census, financial reporting or attendance, schools share a vast amount of data with state and federal governments throughout the year.

Renowned for being complicated, time-consuming and admin-heavy, government reporting impacts everything from funding and resource allocation to ensuring student safety. But with different requirements in each state and ever-evolving compliance standards, keeping up with government reporting can feel overwhelming.

A smart school management system makes it easier for schools to prepare and submit a range of government reports, including:

• Census: Conducted annually, the census collects information about the number of students and staff at each school, students with visas, students with disabilities, and the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students enrolled.
• NAPLAN: National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results are used to inform teaching and learning programs, provide feedback to families regarding student progress, and demonstrate school performance against key NAPLAN indicators.
• NCCD: The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCDD) supports schools, education authorities and governments to better understand the needs of students with disabilities and how they can be best supported.
• STATS: Student attendance data is a key indicator of student engagement and educational outcomes. This information is published in national reports and on the My School website.
• Financial Questionnaire (FQ): An annual collection of financial data required from non-government schools receiving Australian Government funding.
• State-specific compliance reports: Including VASS, ERMS, NESA, VSN, SRDG, and LUI.

FACTS helps schools meet their government reporting obligations by streamlining how relevant data is collect ed, managed and submitted to state and federal authorities. Here are four keyways FACTS takes the hassle out of government reporting.

Schools must collect and submit detailed enrolment and staffing information to state and federal governments.

FACTS makes it easy to collect, validate, and export the right data in the format required for census submissions. Information is stored securely and de-identified as needed, helping schools submit accurate, complete data without a significant administrative effort.

NCCD requirements are notoriously difficult to navigate without the right systems and processes.

FACTS supports schools to record and manage educational adjustments for students with a disability, with dedicated fields aligned to NCCD requirements. Data is collected consistently, stored securely, and provides schools with a clear, auditable trail of support for students with disability.

Attendance is one of the most reported data points in Australian K–12 schools – some states require schools to submit attendance data up to eight times each year.

FACTS allows schools to capture daily attendance and automatically flags absence patterns or anomalies. The platform goes beyond helping schools meet their reporting requirements – it enables the identification of students who are frequently late or absent so that schools can provide these individuals with targeted support or referrals to support services if needed.

Each Australian state has its own compliance framework with unique acronyms, formats, and timelines. Whether it’s VASS (Victoria), ERMS (New South Wales), SRDG (Western Australia) or LUI (Queensland), it can be challenging to stay across the detail.

FACTS partners with our schools to ensure they have the tools to meet their state’s reporting requirements. Our platform can be customised to help schools pull together and export information in the required format, making it easier for them to stay on top of their obligations.

With the right platform in place, government reporting becomes a lot easier. FACTS takes the pressure off, helping schools collect, manage and submit data accurately and efficiently.

Get in touch with our team today to learn how FACTS can support your school to meet government reporting requirements with confidence.