Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority

What Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority does

ACARA is an independent statutory authority of the Australian Government, established by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Act 2008 (Cth) and operational since 8 December 2008. Headquartered at Level 6, 323 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, with additional offices in Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne, ACARA operates with 101-250 employees under the strategic direction of the Education Ministers Meeting. Its core function is to develop and maintain the national Australian Curriculum (currently Versions 8.0 and 9.0, Foundation to Year 10), deliver the National Assessment Program (including NAPLAN for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 plus sample assessments in Science Literacy, Civics and Citizenship, and ICT Literacy), and publish school performance and contextual data through the My School website covering approximately 9,500-10,000 schools nationally.

The technology stack spans Microsoft Azure-hosted public websites (corporate site, Australian Curriculum, My School, NAP), Adobe Managed Services for the Version 9 Australian Curriculum platform, and the Online National Assessment Platform operated on ACARA's behalf by Education Services Australia. NAPLAN 2024 demonstrated operational scale with 4.48 million online tests completed across 9,411 campuses, supported by adaptive/tailored testing and more than 2,500 test items developed, tested and quality-checked. Adjacent offerings include the Australian Schools List national directory, the Professional Learning Hub for teacher professional development, Curriculum Connection resources (including content on AI, online safety, and wellbeing), and the National Report on Schooling in Australia published annually.

ACARA is wholly funded by federal and state/territory government appropriations and provides all services free of charge to schools, parents, students and the public. The organisation does not generate commercial revenue; its commercial counterparties are limited to technology vendors (Microsoft, Adobe) and the not-for-profit platform operator Education Services Australia. Governance is provided by a Board chaired federally with state/territory representation, and the current CEO is Stephen Gniel, formally appointed July 2024 after serving as Acting CEO since November 2023.

Name

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority

Legal name

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority

Website

https://acara.edu.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) is an independent Australian Government statutory authority that develops the national F-10 curriculum, delivers NAPLAN and related national assessments, and publishes school performance data for Australian schools, governments, parents and educators, funded by government appropriations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Standards and Assessment

NAICS

Administration of Education Programs (923110), Administration of Education Programs (92311), Public Administration (92)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

National/State Curriculum & Standards Authorities (EDADAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

National/State Examination Boards & Testing Agencies (EDADAFAA), Standards Alignment & Curriculum Mapping (State/National) (EDAJAFAD), Classroom Assessment & Grading (Formative/Summative) (EDAJAFAC), Subject-Specific Standards & Curriculum Councils (EDADAEAB), Curriculum, Standards & Assessment Policy Research (EDADADAH)

Keywords

• National curriculum development
• Student assessment programs
• School performance reporting
• Education data services
• Curriculum assessment authority

Headquarters

HQ city

Sydney

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: ACARA is an independent statutory authority established under the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Act 2008 (Cth). It operates under direction from Australian education ministers and is funded by federal and state/territory governments. ACARA does not generate commercial revenue.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ACARA is the independent statutory authority that develops the national Australian Curriculum (Foundation to Year 10), administers the National Assessment Program (including NAPLAN and sample assessments in Science Literacy, Civics and Citizenship, and ICT Literacy), and publishes school performance and contextual data on approximately 9,500–10,000 Australian schools through the My School website. It also produces the annual National Report on Schooling in Australia and maintains the Australian Schools List national directory.

Product overview

ACARA is an independent statutory authority that operates as a unified national education platform comprising multiple interconnected products. The core portfolio includes: the Australian Curriculum (F-10, Versions 8.0 and 9.0) providing the national learning framework; the National Assessment Program delivering NAPLAN, NAP sample assessments (Science Literacy, Civics and Citizenship, ICT Literacy), Item Trials and Opt-in assessments; the My School website publishing school performance and contextualized data on approximately 10,000 Australian schools; the National Report on Schooling in Australia providing annual aggregated reporting; the Australian Schools List serving as the national school directory; and the Professional Learning Hub offering online teacher professional development courses. These products work together to provide end-to-end national curriculum, assessment, reporting and professional support services for Australian education.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Australian Curriculum: National school curriculum
• My School
• National Assessment Program (NAP)
• Australian Schools List

Products and services

• Australian Curriculum

Quantifiable outcome

• 4.48 million online assessments completed during NAPLAN 2024

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Education Services Australia Limited (ESA)coreTechnology or IntegrationESA operates the Online National Assessment Platform used for NAPLAN and most other NAP assessments. ESA is a national not-for-profit company owned by all Australian education ministers. ESA administers the platform on behalf of ACARA and state/territory test administration authorities.
• State and Territory Departments of Education and Test Administration AuthoritiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState and territory departments of education and test administration authorities collaborate with ACARA in implementing and administering NAPLAN tests across their jurisdictions. They hold student and school contact personal information and manage local testing operations.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA): Scotland's statutory body for qualifications, accreditation, and assessment. Comparable to ACARA in combining national assessment, standards-setting, and credentialing within a single statutory mandate.
• Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA): State-level statutory authority responsible for the Victorian curriculum, assessment (including NAPLAN administration in Victoria), and certification. Directly comparable in mission, products, and statutory status — and notably the organization where ACARA's current CEO Stephen Gniel was previously CEO.
• Ofqual (UK Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation): UK government regulator of qualifications, examinations, and assessments. Compares to ACARA on the regulatory/standards-setting dimension of its mandate, though Ofqual focuses on regulated qualifications rather than school-by-school reporting.
• NESA (NSW Education Standards Authority): NSW's independent statutory authority overseeing curriculum, assessment, school registration, and credentials. Operates a near-identical mandate to ACARA at the state level and shares responsibility for administering NAPLAN within NSW.
• Standards and Testing Agency (STA) – UK: UK government agency that develops and delivers national curriculum tests (Key Stage 1 and 2 assessments). The closest international analogue to ACARA's national assessment function.
• Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO): Ontario's provincial agency responsible for large-scale student assessments (EQAO tests) and public reporting of school-level results. Closely comparable to ACARA's NAPLAN + My School combination, in another national/provincial jurisdiction.
• New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA): NZ government statutory authority responsible for qualifications, assessment, and credentialing across the school and tertiary sectors. Comparable in statutory form, national scope, and assessment/reporting mandate to ACARA.

Others

• Education Services Australia (ESA): Australian national not-for-profit, owned by all education ministers, that operates the Online National Assessment Platform used by ACARA for NAPLAN. Functionally an infrastructure / implementation partner rather than a peer, but a critical part of ACARA's delivery model.

Broad incumbents

• National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) / NAEP: US federal statistical agency that runs the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). NAEP is the US's closest equivalent to NAPLAN, making NCES a strong functional peer for ACARA's assessment and national reporting functions.
• Educational Testing Service (ETS): US-headquartered large-scale assessment organization operating in global markets (e.g., TOEFL, GRE, NAEP delivery). Comparable to ACARA on the high-stakes, large-scale standardized assessment dimension, though ETS is a non-profit commercial operator rather than a statutory authority.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ACARAeduau
• YouTubeyoutube.com/ACARAeduau
• Facebookfacebook.com/acara.edu.au
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/668120?trk=tyah&trkInfo=tas%3AACARA%2Cidx%3A1-2-2

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority