the rules, plainly

What can a WA teacher actually accept?

If you have ever wondered whether a teacher is allowed to keep the gift you are about to buy, this is the short answer. Western Australia has a specific rule for gifts to school staff from parents, carers and students — it calls them Gifts of Appreciation — and it is more generous than the $50 threshold that applies to the public sector generally.
  • Under $100
    No declaration needed

    Treated as a token gift. Your teacher can accept it and keep it, and there is no paperwork for anyone. This is where almost every classroom thank-you sits, and it is the only band a single family can give in.

  • $100 – $499
    Only from a group

    Above $100 a gift can only be accepted if it comes from a group of parents, carers or students — a class collection, not one family — and it has to be declared on the school gift register. A gift over $100 from a single family has to be declined, however kindly it was meant.

  • $500 and over
    Declined, or kept by the school

    At this level the gift is either refused or, with approval, kept by the school rather than by the teacher — so a big class collection can still end up in the classroom. Worth knowing before a large group pools money together.

What this means when you are buying
  • One family, one teacher — keep it under $100. That is a real ceiling rather than a paperwork trigger — above it, a gift from one family has to be turned down.
  • Pooling money for a class gift — a pooled gift is assessed on its total value, not per family, so a class collection crosses $100 — and then $500 — faster than anyone intends. Above $100 it must come from the group and be declared. Ask the school before you organise something big.
  • Cash and gift cards — cash and cash equivalents, including prepaid cards and gift cards, cannot be accepted at all, at any value. A made object with their name on it avoids the question entirely.
  • Your school may be stricter — the value bands are the state-wide floor, and individual schools and the Department can set tighter rules. The $100 line also applies only to gifts from parents, carers and students — anything offered by a business or a supplier sits under the general $50 threshold instead.
why we price the way we do

Why our Starter Kit is $89

Our Teacher Starter Kit is priced at $89, and that is not an accident. It sits deliberately under the $100 line, so the gift creates no declaration, no group requirement and no awkwardness. It is the largest thank-you one family can give a WA teacher that still asks nothing of them.

It is also why gift sets built for the east coast can be an odd fit here. New South Wales uses a $50 threshold, so ranges designed around that number stop well short of what is perfectly acceptable in Western Australia.
  • Before you rely on this

    This page is general information to help you choose a gift, current as at September 2026 and checked against the Department of Education’s Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Policy and Procedures (v1.1, 4 October 2024). It is not legal, HR or financial advice. Gift policies change, and your school or the Department may apply stricter rules than the bands above. If a gift is close to a threshold, the school office is the right place to ask.

Gifts that stay well under the line

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