Australian Curriculum Homeschool Tasmania: Using AC v9.0 for OER Compliance

The Office of the Education Registrar does not require Tasmanian home educators to follow the Australian Curriculum. This is explicitly stated in the registration framework. Your obligation is to meet the ten standards in Schedule 1 of the Education Regulations 2017 — and the OER leaves the choice of approach, resources, and curriculum framework entirely to you.

In practice, however, the Australian Curriculum Version 9.0 (AC v9.0) is the most efficient reference document Tasmanian home educators can use when writing and reviewing their HESP. Here is why, and how to use it.

Why AC v9.0 Is the Right Benchmark for OER Work

The OER's ten standards describe what an appropriate education must cover, but they do not specify content in detail. When Registration Officers review your HESP and your monitoring visit documentation, they use their professional experience to assess whether your program would broadly deliver what a child of that age should be learning. Their professional experience is built against the same AC framework used in Tasmanian government schools.

Using AC v9.0 as your planning benchmark means you and your Registration Officer are working from the same reference point. It does not mean you need to follow the AC's scope and sequence lesson by lesson. It means that when you document "science," for example, you understand what Year 4 Science looks like in the AC framework and can articulate how your program addresses those broad conceptual domains — whether through a textbook, project-based learning, or nature study.

Tasmania is currently transitioning from v8.4 to v9.0 across all government schools from Prep through Year 10. If you are writing a new HESP or reviewing an existing one, use v9.0 as your reference.

The Eight Learning Areas and How They Map to Your HESP

AC v9.0 organises all learning from Prep to Year 10 into eight learning areas. Each one is relevant to specific OER standards.

English

English covers language (grammar, vocabulary, syntax), literature (reading, analysing and responding to texts), and literacy (applied reading, writing, and communication). In HESP terms, this maps primarily to Standard 4 (Literacy) and contributes to Standard 9 (Personal and Social Development) through communication skills.

For documentation: name your reading program or approach, specify the current level or texts being used, describe writing activities and their frequency, and note any oral communication practice (narration, discussion, debate, public speaking).

Mathematics

Mathematics in AC v9.0 covers number and algebra, measurement and space, statistics and probability. This maps directly to Standard 5 (Numeracy).

The four-strand structure of the AC Maths framework is useful for HESP writing because it makes it easy to check whether you are covering all the areas the OER expects. If your documentation only addresses number work, you have a gap — and a Registration Officer will notice it.

Science

Science covers biological sciences, chemical sciences, Earth and space sciences, and physical sciences. It also includes science inquiry skills. This maps to Standard 6 (Range of Learning Areas) under its science component, and supports Standard 4 where literacy intersects with science communication.

For home educators using nature study, documentary-based learning, or project-based science, the AC Science content descriptions are useful for translating those activities into curriculum language. "Weekly nature journaling and insect observation" is more compelling in a HESP when it's connected to the Year 4 Biological Sciences strand: "living things depend on each other and the environment to survive."

Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS)

HASS integrates history, geography, civics and citizenship, and economics and business. For home educators, this is one of the most naturally covered learning areas — living books, historical fiction, current events discussions, travel, and community engagement all contribute to HASS outcomes.

In the HESP, HASS contributes to Standard 6 (Range of Learning Areas) and also to Standard 10 (Community Involvement). When documenting community involvement, explicitly note connections to HASS content — a visit to a local historical site, participation in local government processes, or a family project addressing a community issue.

The Arts

The Arts encompasses dance, drama, media arts, music, and visual arts. This maps to Standard 8 (Arts and Creative Expression) in the HESP, which is one of the ten standards that home educators sometimes neglect to document with enough specificity.

The OER wants evidence of genuine engagement, not a single annual activity. If your child draws daily, plays an instrument, participates in theatre, or produces any form of creative media, this is strong evidence for Standard 8. Document frequency and describe what the activity involves.

Technologies

Technologies in AC v9.0 includes Design and Technologies (designing and making products and processes) and Digital Technologies (computational thinking, data, systems). This maps to Standard 6 (Range of Learning Areas) and Standard 9.

For rural and regional families in Tasmania, this learning area is often addressed through practical contexts that are inherently rich: maintaining farm equipment, constructing shelters or furniture, cooking and food preservation, mechanical work. These are genuine Technologies learning contexts when you document the design-and-make process involved.

Health and Physical Education (HPE)

HPE covers personal health, movement skills, physical activity, and wellbeing. This maps to Standard 7 (Health and Physical Development) in the HESP.

HPE is a standard where home educators typically have strong practical evidence — sport, outdoor recreation, swimming, athletics, martial arts, and physical activity are common in home education families. The documentation gap is usually on the health literacy side: understanding of body systems, nutrition, mental health awareness, and personal safety. Make sure your HESP addresses both movement and health literacy components.

Languages

Languages is the only AC learning area that does not map to a named OER standard. It contributes to Standard 6 (Range of Learning Areas) as a supplementary domain, and to Standard 9. While it is not compulsory to include a second language in your program, many families include it — Duolingo, community language classes, or heritage language maintenance all count.

A Practical Mapping Approach

When writing or reviewing your HESP, a useful process is:

1. List the learning activities and resources your child actually uses across a typical week and month.
2. Map each activity to one or more of the eight AC learning areas.
3. Check which OER standards each learning area maps to.
4. Identify any gaps — learning areas with no activity, or OER standards with no coverage.
5. Revise your program to fill gaps, or revise your documentation to capture existing activities you forgot to mention.

This process reveals coverage quickly. Most families discover they are addressing far more than they thought — the gap is usually documentation rather than genuine learning.

AC v9.0 and the Curriculum Mapping Matrix

One of the most useful tools for HESP writing is a curriculum mapping matrix: a simple grid that shows which activities you are doing, which learning areas they address, and which OER standards they cover. A well-populated matrix makes the Range of Learning Areas section of your HESP straightforward to write, and gives you a clear visual of where any gaps exist.

The matrix also becomes useful during monitoring visits. Rather than searching through a folder of work samples to find science evidence when a Registration Officer asks, you can point to your curriculum map and immediately locate dated entries showing science activity across the year.

For Tasmanian home educators who want a complete curriculum mapping toolkit aligned to both AC v9.0 and the OER's ten-standard framework, the Tasmania Portfolio and Assessment Templates include a pre-built curriculum mapping matrix, HESP alignment guides for each learning area, and progress documentation templates for monitoring visits.

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