Northern Territory school education

The attendance gap is an Aboriginal gap.

In 2025, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in the NT attended 58.3% of Years 1–10, down from 68.6% in 2016. Non-Indigenous students in the NT attended 89.4%, level with Australia (89.7%).

NT Aboriginal

NT non-Indigenous

Australia

WA retention, outer regional schools, NT resourcing

On track

Watch

Concern

Key decision metrics

What stakeholders should act on. Each figure is a published cell or a model already in reports/key_numbers.json. Status is a reading rule for this page: Concern if the rate is under 50%, the disadvantage is more than 10 points, or the fitted attendance decline is steeper than 1 point a year. Watch is a disadvantage of 3 to 10 points. On track is within 3 points, or the NT side of a resource comparison is the better-resourced one. These are not targets set by the NT Department of Education.

Concern

58.3%

NT Aboriginal attendance, Years 1–10, 2025

Down −1.19 pts/yr · OLS, 9 published years

−18.9 pp vs Australia Aboriginal (77.2%)

The decline is the Aboriginal series. Non-Indigenous students in the NT attended 89.4%, level with Australia (89.7%).

Concern

45.8%

Very remote NT, Aboriginal students, 2025

2025 cross-section only · no annual slope in this block

−8.4 pp vs Australia very remote (54.2%)

Outer regional NT already matches Australia (77.1% and 77.0%). The shortfall sits in very remote schools.

Concern

39.0% · 40.3%

Regional hotspots, government schools, whole of 2024

Single year · East Arnhem and Barkly Aboriginal attendance

−33.4 pp and −32.1 pp vs Darwin (72.4%)

East Arnhem and the Barkly are the low regions. Darwin is not. This is the department’s whole-year collection, not the RoGS semester series.

Concern

71.7% need support

Year 3 reading, NT Aboriginal students, 2025

Support share 63.6% in 2023, 71.7% in 2025, 67.6% in 2026. Absence 31.7% in 2023, 26.1% in 2025, 35.3% in 2026.

+37.8 pp vs Australia Aboriginal on need-support; absence +19.7 pp (26.1% vs 6.4%)

In very remote NT, 89.6% of assessed students need support and 38.0% were absent. Proficiency excludes students who were absent.

Concern

34.9%

Indigenous Year 12 apparent retention, 2025

Flat: 35.2% in 2016 and 34.9% in 2025. WA rose from 44.7% to 69.7%.

−34.8 pp vs Western Australia (69.7%)

Same ABS Year 7/8 to Year 12 measure. Apparent retention is not a cohort completion rate.

On track

10.7 students/teacher

Resourcing, NT government schools

Spend $32,223 per student in 2023-24 · single-year snapshots

−2.3 students vs Australia (13.0); spend +$6,083 vs $26,140

The NT already has fewer students per teacher and spends more per student. Resourcing is not the main lever.

Concern

−12.7 pp

School regression, government schools, 2024

R² 0.859 · n = 128 · enrolment-weighted, HC1

−12.7 pp very remote vs outer regional, after Indigenous share and bottom SEA

Remote is not distinguishable from outer regional (−1.1 pp, p = 0.66). This describes co-movement. It is not a causal estimate, and schools are not ranked.

Recommendations

Put attendance effort on very remote schools, East Arnhem and the Barkly. Very remote Aboriginal attendance is 45.8%. East Arnhem is 39.0% and the Barkly is 40.3%, against 72.4% in Darwin. Outer regional NT already matches Australia (77.1% and 77.0%).
Treat early reading and absence together. In 2025, 71.7% of assessed Aboriginal Year 3 students in the NT needed additional reading support, and 26.1% were absent. In very remote NT those figures are 89.6% and 38.0%. A support program that ignores who was missing will overstate progress.
Learn from Western Australia’s Year 12 retention path. NT Aboriginal apparent retention was 35.2% in 2016 and 34.9% in 2025. WA moved from 44.7% to 69.7% on the same ABS measure. This is apparent retention, not a cohort rate.
Do not lead with more teachers or more recurrent funding. NT government schools have 10.7 students per teacher, against 13.0 nationally, and spent $32,223 per student in 2023-24, against $26,140. The attendance gap widened while that resourcing was already higher.
Use the school model as a description of where the gap sits, not as a ranking. In 128 government schools, very remote location is still associated with about 12.7 points lower attendance after Indigenous enrolment and parental SEA (R² 0.859). Remote is not distinguishable from outer regional (−1.1 points, p = 0.66).

Targets and gaps

Metric	NT	Benchmark	Gap	Trend	Status
Aboriginal attendance, Years 1–10, 2025	58.3%	Australia Aboriginal 77.2%	−18.9 pp	−1.19 pts/yr	Concern
Very remote Aboriginal attendance, 2025	45.8%	Australia very remote 54.2%	−8.4 pp	2025 only	Concern
Barkly Aboriginal, government schools, 2024	40.3%	Darwin 72.4%	−32.1 pp	2024 only	Concern
East Arnhem Aboriginal, government schools, 2024	39.0%	Darwin 72.4%	−33.4 pp	2024 only	Concern
Year 3 reading, needs support, Aboriginal, 2025	71.7%	Australia Aboriginal 33.9%	+37.8 pp	63.6% (2023) to 67.6% (2026)	Concern
Year 3 reading absence, Aboriginal, 2025	26.1%	Australia Aboriginal 6.4%	+19.7 pp	31.7% (2023), 26.1% (2025), 35.3% (2026)	Concern
Year 12 apparent retention, Aboriginal, 2025	34.9%	WA 69.7%	−34.8 pp	35.2% in 2016, 34.9% in 2025	Concern
Students per teacher, government, 2025	10.7	Australia 13.0	−2.3 students	2025 only	On track
Spend per student, government, 2023-24	$32,223	Australia $26,140	+$6,083	2023-24	On track
Very remote coefficient, school regression, 2024	−12.7 pp	Outer regional, after Indigenous share and bottom SEA	−12.7 pp	R² 0.859, n = 128	Concern

NT Aboriginal attendance fell. Non-Indigenous attendance did not.

Years 1–10, all schools. Solid lines are the Northern Territory. Dashed lines are Australia. Non-Indigenous students in the NT attended 89.4%, against 89.7% nationally.

NT Aboriginal
NT non-Indigenous
Australia Aboriginal
Australia non-Indigenous

Outer regional NT matches Australia. Very remote NT does not.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, 2025. Very remote NT is 45.8%, against 54.2% nationally. WA very remote is 53.7%; Queensland is 64.3%.

NT Aboriginal
Australia Aboriginal

Darwin is not the Barkly, and it is not East Arnhem.

Government schools, whole of 2024. Aboriginal attendance is 72.4% in Darwin, 40.3% in the Barkly and 39.0% in East Arnhem. Non-Indigenous rates stay high in every region.

Non-Indigenous
Aboriginal

Attendance falls as the Aboriginal share of a school rises.

Each point is a government school in 2024 with a published rate. Marker size is enrolment. Weighted by enrolment, attendance and Indigenous enrolment move together (correlation -0.91). Suppressed schools are left off the chart, not drawn at zero.

Outer Regional
Remote
Very Remote

Most assessed Aboriginal Year 3 students in the NT need reading support.

71.7% of assessed Aboriginal students, and 89.6% in very remote NT, where 38.0% were absent. The proficiency share ignores students who were absent. Hover a bar for the absence rate.

NT Aboriginal retention has stayed near 35%. Western Australia’s has not.

ABS apparent retention, Year 7/8 to Year 12. NT Aboriginal students: 35.2% in 2016 and 34.9% in 2025. WA moved from 44.7% to 69.7%. This is not a true cohort completion rate.

NT Aboriginal
WA Aboriginal

How to read the rates

National attendance is Semester 1, all schools. Territory regions and schools are government schools for the whole year.
A blank is a suppressed cell, usually enrolment under 12. It is not a zero.
NAPLAN proficiency excludes students who were absent. In very remote NT that is a large share of the cohort.

The NT already spends more per student than Australia.

Government recurrent funding per student, 2023-24. NT $32,223, Australia $26,140. The higher spend has not closed the attendance gap.