Watch FIFA World Cup 2026™

LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE starting June 12 2026

Concerns mount over MySchool site

The Australian Greens say the My School website isn't as helpful as itshould be because it doesn't provide a complete picture of a school.

myschool_100128_L_aap_824931569

The Australian Greens say the My School website isn't as helpful as it should be because it doesn't provide a complete picture of a school.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson Young says the information is limited, and says the party is concerned it could be used to create league tables.

"(Education Minister) Julia Gillard has said it's all about choice for parents but I challenge her on that," Senator Hanson-Young said in Adelaide.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

"When you look on the website the information is so limited - it's taken from one test that was done on one day of the year, and that's what's being used to inform parents about the way a school is performing.

"It's not particularly helpful, it doesn't give the whole picture of the school, it doesn't tell the whole story.

"The Greens believe we should actually be giving parents more information and the narrow testing that is used to inform the My School website is so limited that it doesn't give parents the information they need, they actually need more information."

Site breakdown

Meanwhile earlier today the site had a malfunction, breaking down after it too many people tried to access it at once.

The controversial website only worked intermittently on Thursday after its launch at 1am (AEDT).

Ms Gillard said within hours some 1.5 million people had tried to access the site, which gives detailed information about literacy and numeracy test results.

"From today, parents, teachers and interested Australians will be able to get on the My School website and see more information about schools than they ever have before," Ms Gillard told reporters in Sydney.

"We know that parents are hungry for this information.

"Indeed they are so hungry for this information that the demand this morning has caused some problems.

"It's a website capable of handling 1.7 million visitors a day and capable of 2350 hits a second.

"Demand in the early hours of of this morning was more than that."

She defended the site against accusations from teaching unions that it could be used to create league tables and unfairly stigmatise poor-performing schools.

Ms Gillard said the website would highlight the good work of top performing schools and that it was better for parents to know and understand why poorly performing schools were struggling.


3 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world