Every year, thousands of rural, regional and remote families make one of the biggest decisions of their lives.
Yet very little research exists that captures our voices, our experiences and our reasons for choosing boarding school.
I'm asking for your help.
Our goal is to collect at least 500 responses - and hopefully more than 1,000 - to create one of the largest collections of lived experience from boarding families ever undertaken in Australia.
Why?
Later this month (August 2026) I've been invited to join the panel at the National Bush Summit in Dubbo, where political leaders, business leaders and industry representatives come together to discuss the future of regional Australia.
When I speak, I don't want to rely solely on my own experience as a boarding mum from western New South Wales.
I want to stand there representing hundreds of families from every corner of rural, regional and remote Australia.
This research will help us better understand:
- how families research boarding schools
- what influences their decisions
- how they prepare their children
- what challenges they face
- what opportunities boarding creates
- the financial realities of educating children away from home
- and what support families truly need.
The findings will support the work of The Boarding School Collective and the newly established Spirit of the Bush Scholarship Foundation, launching in Mount Isa on 30 November.
Spirit of the Bush exists because we believe rural families shouldn't have to leave the communities they love simply to give their children access to a face-to-face comprehensive secondary education. It is the first scholarship foundation of its kind in Australia, recognising and supporting families whose commitment strengthens the towns, districts and remote communities they call home.
The survey takes less than five minutes if you simply answer the questions. If you'd like to share more of your experience, there are opportunities throughout to leave additional comments.
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