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Schools in Australia
National breakdown across 9,652 schools, sourced from ACARA School Profiles 2025.
This overview covers every school in the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) directory: government, Catholic, and independent schools across all states and territories. Use the LGA browse links at the bottom to drill into your local area, or read the methodology section for how this data is sourced and updated.
At a glance
National sector mix
State-by-state breakdown
Click a state to browse its LGAs. Mix percentages add to 100% within each state.
| State | Schools | Government | Catholic | Independent | Median ICSEA | LGAs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 3,173 | 69.6% | 16.9% | 13.5% | 1005 | 130 |
| Victoria | 2,301 | 68.6% | 21.4% | 10.0% | 1027 | 79 |
| Queensland | 1,787 | 69.8% | 17.1% | 13.1% | 985 | 69 |
| Western Australia | 1,102 | 71.4% | 14.1% | 14.5% | 1006 | 123 |
| South Australia | 706 | 70.8% | 14.3% | 14.9% | 999 | 72 |
| Tasmania | 261 | 72.4% | 14.6% | 13.0% | 965 | 29 |
| Northern Territory | 184 | 78.8% | 9.2% | 12.0% | 778 | 17 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 138 | 65.9% | 21.0% | 13.0% | 1085 | 1 |
Top 25 Local Government Areas by school count
Biggest LGAs by total school presence. Click an LGA to see its full school list, sector mix, and ICSEA distribution.
| LGA | State | Schools | Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brisbane | QLD | 319 | 1,242,756 |
| Unincorporated ACT | ACT | 138 | 453,263 |
| Blacktown | NSW | 122 | 388,861 |
| Canterbury-Bankstown | NSW | 114 | 385,402 |
| Moreton Bay | QLD | 112 | 475,623 |
| Gold Coast | QLD | 109 | 624,630 |
| Central Coast (NSW) | NSW | 109 | 346,577 |
| Casey | VIC | 96 | 364,907 |
| Lake Macquarie | NSW | 92 | 212,380 |
| Wollongong | NSW | 88 | 214,498 |
| Toowoomba | QLD | 86 | 162,338 |
| Ipswich | QLD | 85 | 229,391 |
| Logan | QLD | 84 | 344,339 |
| Greater Geelong | VIC | 82 | 268,725 |
| Northern Beaches | NSW | 81 | 263,532 |
| Sutherland Shire | NSW | 81 | 230,140 |
| Sunshine Coast | QLD | 80 | 341,470 |
| Penrith | NSW | 78 | 218,758 |
| Yarra Ranges | VIC | 78 | 156,237 |
| Liverpool | NSW | 75 | 230,992 |
| Newcastle | NSW | 72 | 170,214 |
| Hume | VIC | 72 | 243,266 |
| Stirling | WA | 72 | 228,123 |
| Campbelltown (NSW) | NSW | 71 | 177,795 |
| Parramatta | NSW | 70 | 250,309 |
Top 25 Local Government Areas by median ICSEA
LGAs whose schools cluster highest on ACARA's Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage. ICSEA is a population-comparison measure: 1000 is the national mean. Higher values indicate the schools serve students from more advantaged backgrounds. This is not a teaching-quality ranking.
| LGA | State | Median ICSEA | Schools |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nedlands | WA | 1180 | 7 |
| North Sydney | NSW | 1179 | 18 |
| Woollahra | NSW | 1166 | 16 |
| Cottesloe | WA | 1164 | 1 |
| Subiaco | WA | 1164 | 7 |
| Lane Cove | NSW | 1163 | 8 |
| Ku-ring-gai | NSW | 1162 | 43 |
| Claremont | WA | 1162 | 6 |
| Mosman | NSW | 1162 | 7 |
| Boroondara | VIC | 1158 | 62 |
| Burnside | SA | 1158 | 8 |
| Stonnington | VIC | 1157 | 24 |
| Cambridge | WA | 1156 | 12 |
| East Fremantle | WA | 1156 | 1 |
| Peppermint Grove | WA | 1156 | 2 |
| Willoughby | NSW | 1146 | 14 |
| Mosman Park | WA | 1142 | 5 |
| Bayside (Vic.) | VIC | 1140 | 26 |
| Waverley | NSW | 1140 | 16 |
| Unley | SA | 1140 | 13 |
| Walkerville | SA | 1139 | 5 |
| Hunters Hill | NSW | 1138 | 6 |
| Yarra | VIC | 1137 | 28 |
| Glen Eira | VIC | 1135 | 30 |
| Hornsby | NSW | 1128 | 48 |
Methodology and data sources
Schools data is sourced from ACARA's annual School Profile and School Location datasets (2025 release). ACARA, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, is the national independent statutory authority responsible for school data publication.
Sectors and types
ACARA categorises every school by sector (Government, Catholic, Independent) and type (Primary, Secondary, Combined, Special). Independent schools include all non-government, non-Catholic schools regardless of religious affiliation; this includes Anglican, Lutheran, Jewish, Islamic, Christian, secular, and others. The Catholic sector is treated as a distinct category by ACARA due to its scale.
ICSEA
The Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) is calculated annually by ACARA from each school's family-background characteristics: parental education, occupation, geographic location, and the proportion of Indigenous students. The national mean is set to 1000 with a standard deviation of 100. About two-thirds of Australian schools sit between 900 and 1100.
ICSEA is a context measure, not a quality or performance ranking. A school's ICSEA tells you the socio-economic profile of its families, not how well its students perform. ACARA publishes individual NAPLAN results at myschool.edu.au; we link out to that source rather than republishing it.
What we do not republish
NAPLAN test results, government funding figures, and student-level data are not republished here. Direct comparisons between schools using NAPLAN must be done via ACARA's My School site, which provides the "similar schools" context required to interpret results fairly.
Limitations
Some schools opt out of publishing certain fields (small enrolments, sensitive student-body composition). ACARA marks these as "np" (not published) and we render them as blank. Roughly 1% of schools nationally do not publish ICSEA.
Page last reviewed . Schools data: ACARA School Profiles 2025. Cross-referenced against ABS ASGS 2021 LGA boundaries. Postcodes site methodology.