Mobile phone and personal digital device - student use in NT Government schools

Policy reform for mobile phones and personal digital devices in NT Government schools

The Department of Education and Training is committed to providing a safe learning environment for all students in NT Government schools.

From day 1, Term 1 2026:

• Students in preschool to year 6 will not be permitted to have mobile phones or personal digital devices in their possession during the school day, this includes smart watches.
• Students from years 7 to 12 can have their mobile phone during the school day but they must be turned off and put away all day - switched off, not accessed, seen, or heard during the school day and securely stored. Smart watches must be switched to flight mode.

The new policy will allow for schools to consider exemptions for mobiles when required for medical reasons or in emergencies to contact emergency services.

The Personal digital devices in educational environments policy, relating to laptops, computers, music players and handheld games has been revoked.

Policy and resources

• Mobile phone and personal digital device - student use in NT Government schools - policy PDF (326.6 KB)
• Mobile phone and personal digital device - student use in NT Government schools - information sheet PDF (108.1 KB)
• Educators can access more information on the Policy and advisory library (staff access only).

Supporting evidence

How smart is it to allow students to use mobile phones at school? reports on a study of the mobile phone bans in English schools. Outcomes are:

• improvements in student achievement
• an improvement in student test scores, aged 16, by an amount equal to adding 5 extra days to the school year
• lower-achieving students made the greatest improvements.

Mobile phones in the classroom: A helpful or harmful hindrance? confirms phones can be a distraction and their complete removal from the classroom shows improvement in student performance. Students who did not use smartphones in a lecture wrote 62% more information in their notes and recalled more information than peers who were using their phones.

'Schools need to react quickly': Education expert urges smartphone ban discusses the use of smartphones in schools. Smartphone distraction is one main reason why Australia is sliding down Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings.