Right to Free Primary and Secondary Education

Section 3 of the Education Act 1989 states the following:
"Except as provided in this Act or the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975, every person who is not an international student is entitled to free enrolment and free education at any State school during the period beginning on the person's fifth birthday and ending on 1 January after the person's 19th birthday."
The act defines an international student as anyone who is not a New Zealand citizen or the holder of a New Zealand residence class visa. By virtue of the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement, Australian citizens and residents are automatically awarded a residence class visa on entry into New Zealand, so are not classified as international students. There are additional circumstances in which students are not classified as international students, such as children of refugees and foreign diplomats in New Zealand.
This means as long as the student is a domestic student, parents and/or legal guardians do not have to pay for things such as;
the cost of tuition or materials used in the provision of the curriculum,
the cost of heat, lighting or water,
the cost of providing information about enrolling at the school,
interviews when parents are seeking to enrol students at a school.