School or at least education is compulsory in Australia between the ages of six and fifteen, depending on the state and date of birth, with, in recent years, over three quarters of students staying on until they are seventeen. Government schools educate about two thirds of Australian students, with the other third in private schools, a proportion which is rising in many parts of Australia. Furthermore an increasing proportion of these privately educated children are now being home educated ( or 'home schooled').
