Western Australia will BAR smart glasses from every PUBLIC SCHOOL on October 12 — and the rule covers PARENTS, carers, visitors, and contractors, not only students and staff.
Mixed News reports that the Department of Education’s Director General issued a CEO Instruction to all public school PRINCIPALS on September 22. The order bans WEARING, USING, and STORING smart glasses on school sites. The Next Web adds that the instruction also closes CHARGING on campus and runs under section 233 of the School Education Act 1999.
October 12 Starts Term 4
October 12 is the FIRST day of Term 4 on WA’s public school calendar. The BAN follows students and staff OFFSITE whenever they represent their school, so it applies on EXCURSIONS and at sports fixtures too. No brand is named: the instruction treats smart glasses as a CATEGORY.
No Incident On the Record
The education department has not documented a SINGLE case of smart glasses being MISUSED in a Western Australian school, ABC News reporting cited by Mixed News and TNW says. Education Minister Sabine Winton framed the move as PREVENTION: “Keeping students and staff SAFE at school is a priority for the Cook Labor Government.” She told the broadcaster the ban is a “common sense, PREVENTATIVE approach,” and added that smart glasses “may look cool but there’s absolutely NO PLACE in our schools or classrooms for them.”
Curtin University professor Tama Leaver warned that about 30 SECONDS of footage can feed a DEEPFAKE with rudimentary AI tools — one of the risks officials cite alongside privacy, child SAFETY, unauthorized recording, teaching DISRUPTION, and exam INTEGRITY.
Parents and Contractors Face the Same Rule
School DEVICE policies usually stop at STUDENTS. This one does not. The instruction names students, STAFF, parents, carers, VISITORS, and contractors — so a parent at an ASSEMBLY is bound by the same GATE rule as a Year 9 pupil. Principals may grant EXEMPTIONS for medical or accessibility needs. The government has set out no FINE; this is a school rule enforced like other school rules.
Phone Ban Machinery, Victoria Next
Western Australia has run an “off and away all day” PHONE policy since 2020, with smart watches forced to aeroplane MODE. The glasses ban plugs into that MACHINERY. Victoria will restrict wearable devices including smart glasses from January 2027 — a term later. WA is calling its version the most COMPREHENSIVE ban in the country.
The move sits beside a wider Australian PUSH: federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has ruled out an IMPORT ban while urging councils to restrict glasses at pools and leisure centres, and employment lawyers are telling workplaces to write their OWN rules. Distinct from the earlier Commonwealth workplace REVIEW story, this is a STATE school gate order with a hard October 12 START.
Sources: Mixed News / Shane S. Ellison (Sep 23, 2026); The Next Web (Sep 22, 2026); ABC News reporting cited therein (Sep 22, 2026).