With the summer holidays coming, many Perth teenagers are keen to earn their own money. As a parent, it can be hard to know the rules and how to help without taking over. Check the age rules. Work by children under 15 is regulated in WA. Teens aged 13 and 14 can work in a shop, café, restaurant or fast food outlet, but only with written parental permission, outside school hours and between 6am and 10pm. The WA Government's guide to when children can work has the details. Know

Fewer young people in WA are taking the ATAR pathway. A December 2025 report from Victoria University's Mitchell Institute found only 38% of WA Year 12 students received an ATAR in 2024, the lowest share in Australia and down 21 percentage points since 2019. A non-ATAR pathway can be the right choice. My concern is students who drop ATAR subjects without realising some university courses still require them. Here's what I suggest: Check prerequisites before choosing subjects.

Your Year 12 is about to sit their ATAR exams, and it is easy to think the university decisions are finished once the TISC application is in. They are not, and the weeks after the last exam are when a calm plan helps. Here is what I suggest to the parents I work with: Know the dates. The 2026 ATAR written exams run from 28 October to 19 November. ATAR results are released online at 8am on Sunday 20 December, and preferences can be added or rearranged until 11.59pm that same n