More truancy officers on the beat

An additional 270 truancy officers will be organising uniforms and packing lunch boxes in indigenous communities in a bid to get Aboriginal children back into schools following a boost in federal funding.

Forty remote communities already benefit from 400 truancy officers, at a cost of $28 million, who encourage school attendance by walking or driving children to school, helping with lunch preparation and organising uniforms.

The government on Saturday announced a boost in funding of $18 million to help a further 30 communities.

Since the remote school attendance strategy was announced at the end of last year, attendance rates are up 14 per cent in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia - equating to more than 600 additional students in school each day.