Mimi Highgate wanted to be like all the other kids. She wanted to walk through the school gates and have “the high school that everyone gets on TV”.
But for her and an increasing number of students, it isn’t turning out that way.
The 14-year-old, who has just started year 9 at Mount Eliza Secondary College, began experiencing school refusal around the COVID-19 pandemic, when she was in year 4.
“I would just start freaking out. My legs would start shaking. I’d get panicky, my heart would start racing,” Mimi said.
“I’d have weeks off because I wasn’t there much and it was hard for me to get back in. I’ve always had bad anxiety, schooling has been very difficult, it did get a lot worse.”
School absenteeism continues to be a huge issue following the pandemic. Productivity Commission data released on Tuesday reveals national attendance rates for years 7-10 have dropped 4 per cent since 2025, with an attendance rate of 86.5 per cent.
The national data shows younger students are attending school more – 89.5 per cent in year 7 compared to 84.5 per cent in year 10.
In Victoria, attendance rates for years 7-10 dropped from 92.4 per cent in 2016 to 86.9 per cent in 2025.
An earlier analysis of attendance data by The Grattan Institute found more than one in 10 students are absent from school every day. The institute’s December report found about 40 per cent of Australian students – more than 1.2 million – miss at least one day of school a fortnight, with 11 per cent absent on any typical school day.
The Grattan Institute’s education deputy Amy Haywood said absences are the equivalent of missing four weeks a year, and an entire year between the first day of school and the end of Year 10.
“That’s not a blip,” she said. “School attendance has been sliding for more than a decade, and the pandemic poured fuel on the fire.”
The absentee trend is worse in government schools than Catholic or independent, with the Productivity Commission’s 2025 results showing an 89.9 per cent attendance rate in non-government schools, compared to 84 per cent in government.
Experts report absenteeism can be due to disengagement, a lack of structure, family circumstances, truancy or practical barriers, as well as school refusal, when a student wants to go to school but feels they can’t.
Going to school on Wednesdays is easy for Mimi, who has ADHD, autism and is dyslexic. She attends the Hands on Learning program developed by Save the Children, which focuses on capability building and social and emotional goal-setting that is transferrable to classrooms and everyday life.
For some students it is a less-anxious re-entry to school though building, cooking, gardening and setting achievable goals.
“It is amazing. It is so relieving. You have somewhere you won’t be judged. Not too overstimulating. All the people there are lovely and they are there to support you,” Mimi said.
Mount Eliza Secondary College principal Danielle Vaughan said she had also noticed rising rates of students arriving an hour or more late to school, which impact learning and belonging. Her school has been offering the Hands On Learning since 2014, with about 30 students participating in the program each year.
“While Hands On learning works for some kids, it doesn’t work for others. So make sure you’ve got lots of different strategies and tool boxes,” she said.
Education Minister Jason Clare said attendance were improving for years 1 to 10 after years of decline. Across Australia, the attendance rate for students was 88.8 per cent in 2025, up from 88.3 per cent in 2024.
“But there is more to do,” Clare said.
“We’ve set a target of increasing student attendance to over 90 per cent by 2030.”
Mimi’s mother Laura said the impact of school refusal was heartbreaking and caused stress for the whole family as well as disrupted paid work.
“It can be absolutely exhausting. But at the same time, you’ve just got to keep asking the questions, because a lot isn’t offered on a silver platter,” she said.
Parents, she said, had to keep advocating for their children.
“Being a teenager, it’s a tough time. To be able to find a place where you’re really valued and you feel like you can really contribute in a way that works for you is so important,” she said.
The school days Mimi doesn’t have Hands On Learning have got easier, but they are still tough.
But she knows there’s a place she feels truly herself at school, and she knows what she wants to do with her future.
Thanks to Hands On, she knows she wants to be a tradie.
“I wasn’t even considering a trade beforehand. I fell in love with it,” she said.
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