PILLAR Celebrates Pause on “State Co-Parenting” Approach to Homeschooling

PILLAR Celebrates Pause on “State Co-Parenting” Approach to Homeschooling

MEDIA RELEASE | 27 MAY 2026 | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Just one week after last-minute amendments to the Education and Training (System Reform) Amendment Bill were announced by Minister Erica Stanford, the changes have now been scrapped.

PILLAR was proud to stand alongside the many voices warning that these amendments risked imposing significant new regulatory barriers on homeschooling in New Zealand, while further expanding state power into Kiwi homes.

The amendments were set to be introduced without meaningful public consultation and would have handed the Secretary of Education sweeping discretionary powers over how homeschooling is conducted.

PILLAR Executive Director Nathan Seiuli said the proposed changes lacked clear limits, safeguards, and democratic accountability.

“Parents are not junior partners to the state. The government should be backing families, not embedding itself deeper into the home under the guise of oversight.”

“When it comes to education, PILLAR will always err on the side of parental autonomy, parental authority, and the right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children.”

The Minister’s office cited feedback from stakeholders, MPs, coalition partners, and the education sector as key reasons for pausing the proposal, acknowledging that the issue was “more complicated than first thought” and that officials would take more time to “get this right.”

This marks the second major policy retreat by the coalition in as many weeks, following the pause of the proposed social media ban for under-16s.

Seiuli said the government should now make it “three from three” by abandoning plans for broader internet regulation, which has faced even stronger public opposition.

“The coalition regularly talks about personal responsibility, self-determination, and rewarding people who work hard and take ownership of their lives. Those same principles must apply to parents.”

“What we’ve seen instead is an increasingly interventionist approach that treats families as though they require state co-parenting. That is not the role of government, and New Zealanders are pushing back against it.”

ENDS

Media Contact | Nathan Seiuli | +64 21 485 449