JOIN USSCA events
We regularly hold events for both professionals and parents / carers. These events are delivered either face to face on online to provide access to as many people as possible.
If you’d like to book a person event for your school or organisation, please click the button below.
WHAT’S UP NEXT?Upcoming events with SCA
Resource Launch: Understanding School Can't: A guide for parents and carers
School Can't Australia is thrilled to launch a mini book which will be available online for free and to order in hard copy. This booklet contains information parents and carers who have walked this road before suggest is essential to those who are new to this journey.
Details are still being finalised so watch this space for more details. We can share that to celebrate the launch Leisa Riechelt, host and producer of School Can't Experience Podcast will host a lived experience panel discussing the things they wish they had known earlier, or learned the hard way, and other tidbits of lived experience advice.
So reserve your ticket and join us for this live event while you eat your lunch or have your morning tea depending where in Australia you are joining us from.
If you are able to make a donation to help us distribute hard copies of this resource around the country or just support the work we do then please add a donation to your ticket booking when checking out.
Tickets available here.
January School Can't Australia - Sharing Lived Experience Knowledge with parents and carers
We invite you to join our first parent / carer webinar for 2026.
School Can't Australia Peer Support Group was formed in 2014. Since then members of the group have been sharing their lived experience with each other. We have struggled together to understand our children's distress and over 10 years thousands of parents have shared what has worked and what hasn't with each other. We have shared resources and insights. We have held space and provided mutual support. We have conducted research within our group, and written submissions to government seeking to share our perspectives. We have advocated, we have collaborated and together we have played a significant role in changing narratives about school attendance difficulties.
This webinar will help you learn from the experiences of past members and fast track your understanding of our lived experience knowledge.
We will discuss:
The nature of the nervous system and how it responds to stress
The power of a reframe - can't not won't
The importance of being curious
Barriers to identifying stressors and being a stress detective
Why it is important to consider the distress journey of the student
The importance of validating that the student is having a hard time.
The need to consider capacity and balancing demands and expectations with capacity
Learn to notice signs of stress and when to respond.
The importance of shared understandings and language to talk about school attendance difficulties.
The challenges associated with advocacy.
School Can't Australia SUPPORTS parents and carers, EMPOWERS them with lived experience knowledge and ADVOCATES for the needs of our parents/carers and their children.
This is an online event is held via Zoom. Access link will be delivered via email 24 hours prior to event. This event will be recorded with the recording available for 2 weeks following the webinar.
Tickets available here.
Note: Following live attendance at this event parents who are waiting to join the online peer support space can be fast tracked into the group.
SCA shares lived experience knowledge with professionals
School Can’t Australia looks forward to sharing lived experience and insights from neuroscience to assist professionals in supporting parents/carers and their young people who are experiencing school can't.
Learn about the importance of:
re-framing the way we view attendance difficulties,
repairing relationships & building trust
sources of stress and how to identify them,
how to tackle addressing stressors and barriers,
making adjustments that target felt safety,
developing shared understandings about nervous system states,
having conversations about capacity.
referring families for support
This webinar will be content heavy. We hope to equip you with visuals, understandings, words and links to resources you can use that will assist you in your work.
Tickets available here.
Professionals Community of Practice
Gather with a group of no more than 10 professionals who are working with students (and their families) who are experiencing school can't.
Groups will contain a mixture of professionals including: psychologists, Occupational therapists, social workers, educators, speech therapists, learning support staff.
Create shared understandings, share information about resources, consult with a brains trust, gain cross discipline insights.
Groups will be led by two parent/ carers who have lived experience supporting a young person and at least one of the team will also be an allied health or education professional.
PREREQUISITE:- This group is suitable for those who have engaged in a School Can't Australia webinar in the past 12 months or who have attended Student Stress Investigation training.
This session is a pilot group and those who participate will help shape the design of SCA's Community of Practice groups for 2026. It is anticipated that these groups will run monthly during school terms.
Tickets required and available here.
Email info@schoolcantaustralia.com.au if you have questions or would like to discuss organising a group for your organisation.
December School Can't Australia - Sharing Lived Experience Knowledge with parents and carers
We invite you to join our last parent / carer webinar for 2025.
School Can't Australia Peer Support Group was formed in 2014. Since then members of the group have been sharing their lived experience with each other. We have struggled together to understand our children's distress and over 10 years thousands of parents have shared what has worked and what hasn't with each other. We have shared resources and insights. We have held space and provided mutual support. We have conducted research within our group, and written submissions to government seeking to share our perspectives. We have advocated, we have collaborated and together we have played a significant role in changing narratives about school attendance difficulties.
This webinar will help you learn from the experiences of past members and fast track your understanding of our lived experience knowledge.
We will discuss:
The nature of the nervous system and how it responds to stress
The power of a reframe - can't not won't
The importance of being curious
Barriers to identifying stressors and being a stress detective
Why it is important to consider the distress journey of the student
The importance of validating that the student is having a hard time.
The need to consider capacity and balancing demands and expectations with capacity
Learn to notice signs of stress and when to respond.
The importance of shared understandings and language to talk about school attendance difficulties.
The challenges associated with advocacy.
School Can't Australia SUPPORTS parents and carers, EMPOWERS them with lived experience knowledge and ADVOCATES for the needs of our parents/carers and their children.
This is an online event is held via Zoom. Access link will be delivered via email 24 hours prior to event. This event will be recorded with the recording available for 2 weeks following the webinar.
Tickets available here.
Note: Following live attendance at this event parents who are waiting to join the online peer support space can be fast tracked into the group.
School Can't Australia Carers Event - Calming Art Workshop
This workshop will be held in person in Box Hill, Victoria.
Please ensure you notify us in advance if your plans change as we expect there will be a waitlist for this session and we don't want anyone to miss out on this oppourtunity which is being funded by a grant from Carers Victoria.
The Workshop
Calm your mind; reconnect with your creative self; and learn simple watercolour techniques along the way.
This workshop is designed to gradually release you into a creative flow state using watercolour as a mindfulness practice.
Highly experienced art educator Em Power Moore will guide us through simple and accessible activities in a calming and supportive space. Whether you love getting creative or are an absolute beginner, Em is skilled at meeting you where you are and encouraging you to enjoy the process of watercolour painting, for the calm of it.
You will also receive a take home kit to help make this activity accessible for you at home following the workshop.
The take home Calming Art Kit includes:
37 piece watercolour palette and brush kit
A5 300 gsm watercolour paper 12 page pad
Watercolour paper postcard
Water resistant black fineliner penLavender Tea Bag
Fresh Lavender and Gum Leaf
Tickets required, please book here
School Can't Australia - Community of Practice November 2025
Who This Is For: Professionals
A unique offering for professionals to help create shared understandings, share information about resources, consult with a brains trust, gain cross discipline insights.
SCA shares lived experience knowledge with professionals
Who This Is For: Professionals
This webinar for professionals supporting parents/carers and their young people who are experiencing school can't will cover a range of topics from re-framing the way we view attendance difficulties to making adjustments that target felt safety.
National Carers Week - Nervous System Care Workshop
Who This Is For: Parents / Carers
If you are caring for a young person who has school attendance difficulties then this National Carers Week we have a hour of learning about the nervous system and caring for your own nervous system.
This workshop is perfect for anyone curious about their nervous system, emotional wellbeing and the role of movement and breath.
School Can’t Australia Community Conversation - Healesville Living & Learning Centre
Who This Is For: Parents / Carers
Join School Can't Australia and Healesville Living and Learning Centre either online and in-person for a supportive forum on school can’t.
Sharing lived experience knowledge with parents and carers
Who This Is For: Parents / Carers
Learn from the experiences of past members and fast track your understanding of over 10 years of lived experience knowledge.
Identifying Learning Difficulties and What To Do – Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia.
Join us for this information session with Cathy Harrison from Rookery Road to better understand these issues - and how to support your child. Cathy will discuss:
How to recognise signs of learning difficulties in children
What steps to take if a parent suspects their child may be affected
Where to go for assessments and support
Which professionals and services can help
Cathy Harrison has 25 years of specialising in learning difficulties. She has worked in early intervention (0-6) right through to working with adults. She specialises in Literacy Intervention, parent advocacy and school training. For more information go to https://rookeryroad.com.au/
School Can't Australia was formed in 2014. Since then members of the group have been sharing their lived experience with each other. We have struggled together to understand our children's distress and over 10 years thousands of parents have shared what has worked and what hasn't with each other. We have shared resources and insights. We have held space and provided mutual support. We have conducted research within our group, and written submissions to government seeking to share our perspectives. We have advocated, we have collaborated and together we have played a significant role in changing narratives about school attendance difficulties.
Attendance is FREE.
Note listed time is AEST
Please note: If you make a donation and require a receipt, please email info@schoolcantaustralia.com.au
Understanding and supporting students who experience ‘school can’t’
Maroondah City Council is hosting this event in partnership with Boroondara, Knox, Whitehorse and Yarra Ranges Councils.
Tiffany Westphal from School Can’t Australia will be presenting.
Understanding School Refusal: Strengthening Family and School Partnerships
School refusal is a growing concern impacting students across Australia. Whether gradual or sudden, this behaviour reflects a student’s emotional distress around school attendance. It can be triggered by anxiety, learning challenges, social pressures, or changes in the home environment.
Professional Learning Event: SCA shares lived experience knowledge about school attendance difficulties
School Can’t Australia shares lived experience insights to assist professionals supporting parents/carers and their young people who are experiencing distress about school.
Learn about the importance of:
re-framing the way we view attendance difficulties,
sources of stress and how to identify them,
how to tackle addressing stressors and barriers,
making adjustments that target felt safety,
developing shared understandings about nervous system states,
having conversations about capacity.
School Can't Australia was formed in 2014. Since then members of the group have been sharing their lived experience with each other. We have struggled together to understand our children's distress and over 10 years, thousands of parents have shared what has worked and what hasn't with each other. We have shared resources and insights. We have held space and provided mutual support. We have conducted research within our group, and written submissions to government seeking to share our perspectives. We have advocated, we have collaborated and together we have played a significant role in changing narratives about school attendance difficulties. We look forward to sharing what we have learned with you.
Tickets are $179 and available here.
Attendees will also qualify for an exclusive offer for School Can’t Australia’s Professional Membership launch.
Panel Event: Sharing Lived Experience Knowledge about School Can’t
Celebrate School Can't Australia's Lived experience knowledge with Tandem Carers
Come along and find out more about School Can't Australia, hear from a Lived Experience panel on School Can't, and help us, and Tandem, celebrate SCA as winners of Tandem's Organisation Community Award 2023 and celebrate 10 years of lived experience knowledge creation.
This event is an online event only.
Attendance is free, but registration required. To register click here.
Sharing Lived Experience Knowledge about School Can’t in Brisbane
Come along to connect with other parents/carers with lived experience, supporting students who have experienced distress about attending school. Hear parents/carers who have walked in your shoes share how they survived and supported their children.
Tiffany Westphal (board member of School Can’t Australia) will speak about why the group uses the term school can’t and will share some of the knowledge co-created by the group.
Attendance is free, bookings required. Book here.
Home Education for School Can’t
Do you have a child struggling with School Can't?
Together with School Can't Australia (Parent/Carer Peer Support), the Home Education Network (HEN) is running another free webinar.
Come along and hear more about home education, and how it can work for your family. Bring along your questions and your skeptics :)
Book here
Both SCA and HEN are volunteer-run not-for-profits and are entirely non-commercial.
*This session will not be recorded, due to the sensitive nature of the topic.
Down Syndrome Australia School Refusal or School Can’t Workshop
School Can’t Australia’s Tiffany Westphal will be presenting at this workshop run by Down Syndrome Australia.
Join us for an online session to help you better understand why your child doesn’t want to go to school.
This is for parents and carers of school aged children with disability funded by Carers Victoria.
Participants will gain knowledge about:
why it’s appropriate that we reframe ‘school refusal’ as ‘school can’t’
using language carefully when talking about it
the autonomic nervous system
why it’s important that in responding to those experiencing ‘school can’t’ we seek to identify stressors and barriers to attendance
how to respond to those stressors and barriers.
Register here
Sharing Lived Experience Knowledge about School Can’t in Canberra
Come along to connect with other parents/carers with lived experience, supporting students who have experienced distress about attending school. Hear parents/carers who have walked in your shoes share how they survived and supported their children. Tiffany Westphal (board member of School Can’t Australia) will speak about why the group uses the term school can’t and will share some of the knowledge co-created by the group. She will be joined by parents: Michelle Hatton (past group admin) and Glynn Masterman who will share their experiences.
School Can’t Australia hosts Services Australia: accessing financial supports
School Can't Australia will host representatives from Services Australia who will answer questions and present information about:
Carers Allowance
Carers Payment
Carer Adjustment Payment
Assistance for Isolated Children Payment
Registration required and attendance limited to 100. Register here.
School Can't Australia: Understanding the signs of sexual abuse and grooming in students
Dr India Bryce from University of Southern Queensland will join us to talk about sexual abuse and grooming. Dr Bryce will help parents and carers understand the signs of sexual abuse or grooming and what you should do if you suspect your child has experienced either. Dr Bryce will also talk about the risk of sexual abuse in children with disabilities and the way
that sexual abuse can impact school engagement. There is often a delay of many years between when a person experiences sexual abuse and when they disclose this to others, it is important, therefore, that parents and carers are aware of the signs.
This may be a difficult topic for you. Please seek support if you find attending this webinar leads you to feel distressed.
Register here
CRISIS NUMBERS:
1800 Respect national helpline: 1800 737 732
Sexual Assault Counselling Australia: 1800 211 028
hereBravehearts (support for child sexual abusesurvivors): 1800 272 831
Home Education for School Can’t Webinar
Join us for an insightful webinar as Home Education Network and School Can’t Australia unite once more. Delve into the essence of home education, dispel myths, explore its compatibility with School Can’t, and envision its potential for your family. Bring your questions and skepticism, and let's unravel the possibilities together.
Bookings essential at Trybooking
Cost: Free
Supporting Children with School Attendance Difficulties
Thanks to Making Waves OT who have invited School Can’t Australia to present at their first webinar of 2024, Supporting Children with School Attendance Difficulties.
Buy tickets here to hear from School Can’t Australia’s Louise Rogers and Tiffany Westphal.
EVENTS FOR YOU
Book an event
Interested in having School Can’t Australia speak at your professional development event or conference? Complete the form below or email us directly at events@schoolcantaustralia.com.au with the subject “Speaker Inquiry”.
HEAR FROM OTHERSTestimonials
“A big shoutout to Tiffany Westphal and Louise Rogers for their fantastic presentation to the Making Waves OT community. Our webinar on Supporting Children with School Attendance Difficulties was outstanding. Tiffany and Louise seamlessly combined their professional expertise with personal experiences, offering a wealth of practical advice that truly resonated with our audience. The content was rich, and the insights they shared were both impactful and memorable. The feedback from our community was overwhelmingly positive, with some attendees reporting putting the knowledge they gained into practice with their clients and students the very next day! This highlights the immense value of their expertise. Our experience with School Can't Australia has shown us that they operate with the highest integrity, consistently demonstrating genuine respect and care for those they support. We wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone seeking effective strategies for addressing attendance challenges in schools.”
Madeleine Wright, Director of Making Waves Occupational Therapy