Yes. The submission of Student Background Data by Independent schools to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) is mandatory under the Australian Education Regulation 2013 (Cth) (the Regulation).

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) collects student background data (SBD) for all Australian schools to calculate Socio-Educational Advantage (SEA) and Disadvantaged Language Background other than English (DLBOTE). Schools are required to participate in the Student Background Data collection to improve the quality of the socio-educational and language background other than English estimates for schools that are used in school funding and reporting.

Schools are required to complete the Student Background Data collection via ACARA.

Schools are required to provide the following information:

• Each students’ date of birth, gender, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status, and Language other than English spoken at home; and
• Each parent/guardian/carer’s school education, non-school education, occupational group, and Language other than English spoken at home.

To ensure the Socio-Educational Advantage loading continues to be included in payments to schools from the Department of Education, a completed Student Background Data template must be submitted to ACARA by the deadline. If a school does not provide their Student Background Data for the current year to ACARA, the Department of Education are unable to calculate their loading and may apply a ‘zero’ value in the funding model until the Student Background Data information is provided.

2023 Independent Student Background Data Submission Guide
ACARA – Student Background Data Collection for Independent Schools