Enrolling students
All permanent residents and temporary residents (except for fee-paying students), including students born in Australia, from a language background other than English (LBOTE) and who require support to develop their English language proficiency are eligible for support through the ESL Program. Principals will be able to advise about the types and extent of support available.
In Queensland state schools, eligible students are funded for ESL support for their first three years in primary school and their first five years in secondary school. Students born in Australia but who use language other than English at home may be supported in Years 1-3 if they have identified second language learning needs.
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Under the Immigration Humanitarian Program, some students on temporary visas who fulfil all requirements are eligible for New Arrival funding as long as they are enrolled in an ESL program within six months of arriving in Australia (18 months for students enrolling in Year 1). Schools should contact ESL staff (through the District Office if not known) as soon as possible to access appropriate support.
Some students on temporary visas are required to pay fees before they can be enrolled in Queensland schools. ESL support for these students is negotiated between Education Queensland International and the school concerned. Fee-paying students are not funded by the ESL Program and are not included on the ESL database.
Dependants of some scholarship holders (e.g. attending university under a scholarship arrangement) are entitled to enrol in schools without having to pay fees. These students are eligible for ESL support but not for New Arrival funding.
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At the initial enrolment interview, Principals photocopy all entries in the student's passport including face page, visa and all departure and arrival stamps. Ensure that the visa sub-class, granted and expiry dates on visa and all dates of entry into Australia are clearly shown. The visa sub-class number (eg. 201, 457, 845) shown on the passport determines whether or not the student can be enrolled in the school and also determines eligibility for ESL support. Schools must obtain this information.
Schools should contact Education Queensland International 
(EQI) to determine if students on temporary/visitor visas are eligible to enrol in Education Queensland schools
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For further information on visa categories and eligibility for ESL support contact the ESL Database, Performance Monitoring and Reporting.
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