Victoria to mandate device-free time in high schools from 2027
Australia's Victoria state will require high schools to build "planned device-free time" into learning from term 1 2027, leaving schools to decide how to implement it.
Victoria will require high schools to include "planned device-free time" in their learning schedules from term 1 2027, as part of a broadening push across Australian states to curb student screen use during school hours.
The policy does not mandate a specific time limit or prescribe how schools must approach it. Instead, individual schools will decide how device-free periods work for their students — whether through whiteboard teaching, paper-based tasks, group debates, practical experiments, or performances.
The move follows an earlier Victorian policy setting a screen-time cap of 90 minutes for years 3–6, with minimal device use recommended in the first two years of school.
A first for Australian schools
Victoria is the first state in Australia to establish device-use guidelines specifically for school learning. While several Australian states follow national movement guidelines recommending no more than two hours of recreational screen time per day for children aged 5–17, those standards were developed for health reasons outside school, not for classroom teaching.
Some private schools across Australia have already adopted screen-free or largely device-free approaches, marketing them as a mark of educational quality. But such policies remain outside the mainstream in Australian public education.
The research tells us there is no "magic screen time number" to guarantee quality learning.
What the research shows — and doesn't
Education experts note there is no definitive threshold for screen use that ensures better learning outcomes. According to The Conversation's reporting, the quality of learning depends on how technology is used, not simply how much time students spend on devices.
A student spending two hours designing a digital book engages in creative problem-solving, whereas another spending two hours watching auto-feed videos may exercise no decision-making at all. The type of activity, not the minutes logged, shapes the educational value.
That distinction explains why Victoria's policy avoids a hard time cap. Minute-by-minute tracking would create administrative burden for schools without meaningful insight into learning quality.
Broader concerns, but competing policy drivers
Public anxiety about young people's technology use has grown real and significant. In response, all Australian states have banned smartphones in schools within the last five years. A social media ban for under-16s is also under consideration.
However, there is a risk that distinct issues — smartphones, social media, AI, recreational screen time, and classroom digital tools — are treated as a single "screen-time problem." This bundling can allow concerns about one type of technology to shape policy responses to another, even when they present different risks and educational purposes.
Research from the OECD (2022) confirms that digital devices can distract students, particularly when used for leisure during lessons or when classmates' devices draw attention away. But the evidence on learning outcomes from device use itself remains more nuanced.
What happens next
Schools in Victoria will have autonomy in designing their device-free arrangements. The January 2027 start date gives institutions time to plan implementation, though details on enforcement or oversight remain unclear from the reporting available.
The policy represents a shift toward examining how schools integrate technology into teaching — rather than treating all screen use as equally problematic.