About us
School Can’t Australia (SCA) was established in 2014, in response to the lack of dedicated support services for families whose children and young people are experiencing school attendance difficulties. SCA provides peer support for parents and primary carers through a Facebook group.
SCA is run by volunteers from around the country, who are themselves parents and carers of children and young people experiencing school attendance difficulties. Many of our volunteers have qualifications in allied health and teaching.
SCA currently has over 18,000 members with almost 2000 members waiting to join the Facebook group.
Support, Empower, Advocate
WHAT WE DOSCA provides peer advice and support for parents including:
General information and advice on issues relevant to school can’t.
Building parent/carer well-being.
Connection and mutual support.
A safe space to unpack and make sense of what has happened.
Guidance and lived experience knowledge.
In person and virtual support meetings.
Direction to external crisis and emergency support.
An opportunity to help others.
Direction to resources and support services.
Other activities of the group include:
Advocating for the needs of parents, carers, children and young people.
Collaborating with researchers and policymakers.
Conducting lived experience research.
Raising awareness and creating shared understandings of school can’t.
MEET OURBoard of directors
she/her
BSocWk, GradDMgt, BA
she/her
BSc/BE (Hons), MTeach (Primary)
she/her
B. Bus
She/her
BAcc, CPA, GAICD
he/him
BE, BA, GradDMgt
She/her
JD, BBus
she/her
She/her
CA, GAICD
HOW WEHelp the community
Support
We facilitate a peer support community for parents and carers of children experiencing school attendance difficulties on Facebook. Find our community here: School Can’t Australia
Please note due to high demand there is currently a significant wait time in joining the group. We are working to reduce this delay. While you wait please visit our resources page here.
Empower
We build parent/carer understandings about school can’t and provide resources that enable them to support their child/young person. Topics include: problem solving, collaboration with schools, alternative education settings, self-compassion, stress, self regulation, co-regulation, mental health, disability, and inclusion.
Advocate
We provide the lived experience voice of children and young people, and their parents / carers to inform and influence systemic change across education, disability, mental health and welfare services.
Access our submission to the 2022 Australian Senate Inquiry into School Refusal here and our response to the final report here.