School Enrolment as a Grandparent Carer in South Australia

Requesting Enrolment Without a Court Order

You do not always need a court order to request enrolment as an informal carer. The Department for Education's admission procedure allows a school to consider an informal caregiver's statutory declaration, but each request is assessed on the child's circumstances and best interests. The principal or director makes the decision.

The procedure says a school may rely on the declaration to deal directly with you about the child's education, including activities requiring consent, if it is satisfied that you have assumed full-time care for the foreseeable future and meet the definition of in loco parentis. The declaration does not give you legal guardianship or custody.

What Schools Will Ask For

When you walk into the front office to enrol a grandchild or relative's child, the school will typically ask for:

1. An Informal Carer Statutory Declaration — the school or Department for Education can provide a template. You complete it stating that you have primary day-to-day care of the child, how long the arrangement has been in place, and the reason (you do not need to go into painful detail — "parent unable to provide care" can explain the arrangement; answer the template's specific questions)

2. Secondary care evidence — at least one of the following:

   • A Medicare card showing the child listed under your name
   • A utility bill confirming shared residence
   • A GP letter confirming the child is registered at your address
   • A letter from a social worker, police officer or community professional

3. The child's birth certificate if you have it (some schools will accept other identity documents if the birth certificate is with the parent or unavailable)

4. Immunisation records — you can access the child's Australian Immunisation Register history through myGov once they are on your Medicare card

If the School Pushes Back

An informal caregiver's declaration can support an enrolment request, but it does not guarantee acceptance or replace the principal's case-by-case assessment. If the school says it needs more evidence:

• Ask to speak with the principal directly, not just the administrative staff
• Reference the Department for Education's admission procedure
• Point to your completed statutory declaration and supporting evidence
• Ask the principal to explain the decision and contact the Department for Education for guidance on the admission procedure

Principals maintain discretion to verify arrangements, especially if a parent disputes them, and the final decision rests with the principal or director.

What You Can Do Once Enrolled

If the principal is satisfied that you meet the requirements for an informal-care declaration, the school may deal directly with you about the child's education. This can include:

• Complete enrolment forms and update school records
• Attend parent-teacher interviews and receive academic reports
• Authorise routine school activities, local excursions and sport participation
• Access the school's educational portal and attendance records

The declaration does not give you legal guardianship or custody, and parents with parental responsibility generally retain access to school information unless a court order says otherwise.

School Fees and School Card

Once enrolled, check whether you qualify for School Card. For government-school students in a formal or informal care arrangement, apply using Form F and provide evidence of full-time care; this care-arrangement application is not assessed against the income limits. Students under the Guardianship of the Chief Executive at government schools are automatically eligible. For non-government schools, Form F is used for formal and informal care arrangements, and each school decides whether to use the School Card income-eligibility assessment for fee relief.

School Card covers the compulsory materials and services charges that most SA public schools levy. For private schools, the process is different — apply directly to the school's bursary or financial office with evidence of your care arrangement.

Pulling It All Together

The enrolment process itself is not complicated, but gathering the evidence and knowing which form to use for each agency can be. Our SA kinship carer guide maps the full sequence — from statutory declaration through enrolment through School Card — so you walk into the school office once with everything you need.

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