The first question most new Australian homeschooling families ask is “which curriculum should I buy?” The honest answer is that you almost certainly do not need to buy one at all. Australia has a complete, free, government-written curriculum that is exactly what schools use, and for most families it is the sensible place to start. This guide explains what the Australian homeschool curriculum options actually are, how to choose between them, and how to use one without recreating school at your kitchen table.
If you are still at the very start, read our step-by-step guide on how to homeschool a child and the state-by-state registration requirements first. This article assumes you know you want to homeschool and now need to sort out the curriculum.
The short answer: you already have a free curriculum
The Australian Curriculum (currently Version 9) is published free and in full at australiancurriculum.edu.au. It sets out what children learn at every year level from Foundation to Year 10, across eight learning areas: English, Mathematics, Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, The Arts, Technologies, Health and Physical Education, and Languages. It is the same document that sits behind every state school lesson, and you are free to use it. That means a “homeschool curriculum” in Australia does not have to be a boxed product you order in the post. It can simply be the national curriculum, used as a checklist and a map.
The three frameworks you can choose from
Australia has one national curriculum and two states that write their own version of it. Which one you plan against depends on where you live:
- The Australian Curriculum (AC9). The national default, used by most states and territories: Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory.
- The Victorian Curriculum F–10. Victoria’s own version, published by the VCAA. It covers the same learning areas and adds four explicitly assessed Capabilities, which we cover in the four capabilities in the Victorian Curriculum.
- The NSW syllabuses. New South Wales writes its own syllabuses through NESA. If you register with NESA, your learning plan is written against these rather than the national document.
The differences matter for paperwork more than for teaching. If you are not sure which applies to you, our guide to which curriculum your state uses walks through each one.
Do you actually have to follow it?
You keep full control of pace, order and teaching method. What registration bodies assess is whether your learning plan addresses the required learning areas, not whether your days look like a school timetable. Victoria expects plans to address the eight key learning areas; NSW plans are written against the NSW syllabuses; the other states accept the Australian Curriculum as the default framework. Within that, you decide how fast to go, what order to teach in, and whether Tuesday is a maths morning or a museum day. The curriculum is the destination list, not the route.
How to choose a homeschool curriculum in Australia
Once you know which framework you register against, you are really choosing how much of the work you want done for you. There are three broad options, and most families end up blending them.
1. The free framework plus your own resources
Download your framework, print your child’s year level for English and Maths, and treat the other learning areas as a checklist to spread across the year. Fill the gaps with the library, museums, national broadcasters and free institutional material. This is the cheapest option and the one most experienced families settle into. See how to build a homeschool resource stack for the layers worth filling.
2. A boxed or all-in-one curriculum
Boxed curricula do the planning and sequencing for you, which is genuinely reassuring in the first year. The trade-offs are cost (they are usually the single biggest line item for families who buy one) and fit: many are written for the US or UK, so the English and Maths sequence will not match the Australian Curriculum exactly. If you buy one, check it is Australian-aligned or accept that you will be adjusting the sequence.
3. Online programs and lesson generators
Online programs sit between the two: more structure than the raw framework, less commitment than a boxed set. This is also where a lesson generator earns its place, because it turns a topic, a year level and your child’s interests into a complete lesson on demand, rather than making you hunt for one that fits all three.
Five questions to ask before you commit
- Is it aligned to my Australian framework, or to another country’s system?
- Who does the work, my child or the resource?
- Does it give feedback without me having to mark everything?
- Will this particular child actually finish it?
- Does it leave evidence I can show at registration review?
A curriculum that fails the last three tends to quietly stop being used by about week three, no matter how impressive it looked when you bought it.
Using your curriculum without recreating school
The framework tells you what to teach; it says nothing about the vehicle. The single highest-leverage move in a homeschool is to keep the outcomes fixed and change the wrapper. The outcome “interpret and compare data displays” does not say whose data, so it can be taught through AFL ladders, dinosaur sizes or a favourite game just as well as a textbook table. We cover the method in how to build an interest-based homeschool curriculum and the practical daily tips in homeschooling tips that actually work.
Keep English and Maths daily and short, rotate the content subjects, and let practice check itself so you are the encourager alongside rather than the examiner across the table. Sprout Lessons turns any outcome, year level and interest into an interactive, curriculum-aligned lesson in seconds, with worked examples, self-checking practice and the exact AC9, Victorian or NSW outcome codes recorded in the footer, which also happens to make your registration records build themselves.
You do not need to spend a cent on a curriculum to homeschool well in Australia. Start with the free framework, add paid resources only where you hit a genuine gap, and teach through what your child cares about. If you want the lesson side handled, try Sprout free: new accounts start with free lessons, each one built around your child’s interests and aligned to your curriculum.
FAQ
Do you need a curriculum to homeschool in Australia?
Not a purchased one. The Australian Curriculum (Version 9) is published free and in full online, and the Victorian Curriculum and NSW syllabuses are too, so you already have a complete, government-written curriculum without spending anything. A boxed curriculum is an optional convenience product, not a requirement. What registration bodies assess is whether your learning plan addresses the required learning areas, not whether you bought a particular product.
What is the best homeschool curriculum in Australia?
For most families, the best starting point is the free framework your state registers against (the Australian Curriculum, the Victorian Curriculum or the NSW syllabuses) used as a checklist, with resources added only where you hit a genuine gap. Boxed curricula suit families who want everything sequenced for them in the first year, but check they are Australian-aligned rather than written for the US or UK. The best curriculum is the one this particular child will actually finish.
Do homeschoolers have to follow the Australian Curriculum?
Most state registration bodies either require your plan to address the standard learning areas or accept the Australian Curriculum as the default framework. Victoria expects plans to address the eight key learning areas, and NSW plans are written against the NSW syllabuses. Within that you keep full control of pace, order and teaching method.
How much does a homeschool curriculum cost in Australia?
It can cost nothing: the Australian, Victorian and NSW curricula are all free and public. Costs only appear if you choose to buy them: boxed curricula are usually the single biggest line item for families who buy one, running from a few hundred to over a thousand dollars per child a year, while free frameworks plus the library cover the same ground for families willing to do more of the planning themselves.