Māori Status in New Zealand Law · Enforcement Ledger · Part 45 · Education

What legal power enforces school attendance?

Compulsory education is statutory. The Education and Training Act creates enrolment/attendance obligations and gives attendance officers and constables defined powers to detain and question school-age children who appear absent.

School attendance is a statutory obligation rather than an incident of Crown subjecthood.

The Education and Training Act 2020 contains compulsory enrolment and attendance rules. Section 49 gives attendance officers and constables defined powers to detain a person who appears to be aged between 5 and 16 and absent from school and to question that person about identity, address and enrolment.

The power has a defined statutory scope.An attendance officer is not a general Police officer. The authority exists for the education purpose specified by the Act and must be exercised within that boundary.

CompulsionEnrolment/attendance duties, questioning and detention in specified attendance circumstances.

Primary instrumentEducation and Training Act 2020.

TriggerStatutory school-age and apparent absence/non-attendance conditions.

Audit issueCheck exemptions, enrolment status, alternative education arrangements and the exact power used.

Again, the modern enforcement hook is a specific statute directed at a defined public function—not a general status as subject of the Crown.

Primary statuteEducation and Training Act 2020, including s 49.

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