Introduction
Western Australia’s Muslim community is Australia’s third-largest by state, representing approximately 7% of the national Muslim population — roughly 57,000 people, concentrated predominantly in Perth. Islamic education in WA presents a distinct landscape: significant geographic spread across a vast state, a Muslim community whose growth trajectory has been shaped by skilled migration and resource industry workers, and an institutional infrastructure that is younger and less developed than Sydney or Melbourne but growing rapidly.
Al-Hidayah Islamic School — Bentley, Perth
Address: Cnr Hedley Street and Nyamup Way, Bentley WA 6102
Postal: PO Box 761, Victoria Park WA 6979
Phone: 08 9351 8593
Email: info@islamicschool.com.au
Website: islamicschool.com.au
Al-Hidayah Islamic School is Western Australia’s state-registered Islamic school, serving students from Kindergarten through Year 6. Located in Bentley — a suburb immediately south-east of the Perth CBD, within easy reach of the South Perth and Victoria Park Muslim communities — Al-Hidayah is the centrepiece of WA Islamic school provision at the primary level.
School vision: “In a safe Islamic environment, lay the best possible foundation for our students by way of exemplary example and relevant Islamically oriented education to the highest possible standards, so that they can make their way in the world as confident, contributing Muslims.” The Islamic nature of the school is explicitly placed above all other considerations in the vision statement.
Core values (Iman-Akhlaq-Ihsan): Faith, Character, Excellence — presented as the three pillars of the school’s Islamic ethos.
Hours:
- Kindergarten: Monday–Wednesday, 8:25am–3:30pm
- Pre-Primary to Year 6: Monday–Thursday 8:25am–3:30pm, Friday 8:25am–2:00pm
Curriculum approach:
Al-Hidayah offers the full Western Australian Curriculum alongside its Islamic education programme. The school is notable for its structured, evidence-based pedagogical approach:
Kindergarten to Year 2: Play-based learning with intentional teaching personalised to each child. The emphasis is on building positive relationships and creating stimulating learning environments within an Islamic framework.
Years 3 to 6: Inquiry-based learning emphasising student involvement, engagement, and independence, while valuing teacher guidance and support.
The school describes itself as developing “Learning Assets” — life skills and individual capabilities — within a vision of students as valued members of the Ummah who contribute positively to the community.
Governance:
Al-Hidayah publishes a Governance Hub on its website, providing public access to governance documents — a transparency practice that reflects the school’s registration under the School Education Act 1999 (WA). The school’s ABN is 72 481 406 449.
Parent portal: Al-Hidayah uses Compass as its parent portal system — one of Australia’s leading school management platforms. Compass provides:
- Online fee payment
- Parent communication
- School calendar and events
- Student reports and progress
This Compass integration means Al-Hidayah operates with professional-grade digital school administration at the parent interface level, though it does not include Islamic education-specific functions (Hifdh tracking, Quran progression, etc.).
School management insight: Al-Hidayah’s use of Compass confirms the two-platform reality for Australian Islamic full-time schools: mainstream school management systems (Compass, Synergetic, Edumate, TASS) handle NAPLAN preparation, WA curriculum compliance, fee management, and parent communication — but these systems have no Islamic education functionality. An Islamic full-time school needs a separate system for Quranic progression, Islamic Studies records, and the spiritual dimension of its students’ development.
Ar-Rukun Mosque Tahfiz Programme — Rockingham, Perth
Address: 4 Attwood Way, Rockingham WA 6168
Imam Iqbal: 0432 594 092
Email: imam@ar-rukunmosque.org.au
Website: ar-rukunmosque.org.au
Ar-Rukun Mosque (formally Ar-Rukun Madrasah / ARM) in Rockingham — Perth’s southern coastal suburb — operates a Quran and Tahfiz programme as part of its community services. The programme runs three days per week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 5:30–7pm), following the WA school term calendar.
Requirements:
- Students aged 7–17
- Must be able to read Quran (prerequisite)
- Committed and eager to learn
- Entry subject to assessment by Imam Iqbal
This assessment-based entry creates quality control: the programme is not open to all comers regardless of readiness, but takes students who have the foundational reading ability and commitment needed to benefit from Tahfiz training.
Ar-Rukun’s programme is a direct response to a specific community need: in Rockingham — 50km south of Perth’s CBD, with a small but growing Muslim community — there was no Tahfiz education available. The mosque’s decision to offer three-day-per-week supervised Tahfiz classes makes this level of Quranic education accessible to families who cannot travel to Perth city for madrasah.
Donations: Ar-Rukun accepts direct bank transfer donations (BSB: 066135, Acct: 10479084) — a standard community mosque donation model that provides ongoing operational funding.
The Islamic Centre of Western Australia (ICWA) — Maylands and Queens Park
Head Branch: 238 Guildford Road, Maylands WA 6051
Perth Ummah Centre: 36 Whitlock Road, Queens Park WA 6107
Imam: Sheikh Saleh Ibrahim | imam@icentrewa.com.au
Contact (message only): 0444 577 484
Website: icentrewa.com.au
The Islamic Centre of WA has been in operation since 1994 and is building Perth’s first multi-purpose Islamic centre under the “Build Your Centre” campaign — a project that includes a mosque, community facilities, and Islamic education spaces. In 2026, ICWA launched a “Ramadan on the Road” national fundraising tour to bring this vision to the attention of the broader Australian Muslim community.
Current educational offerings:
- Weekly Islamic and Quran classes for adults and children of all ages
- Saturday Quran Class (SQC) — a dedicated Saturday Quran programme
- Dar al-Huda programme — an adult Islamic education programme
- Youth programmes
- Community events and lectures
ICWA’s two-location operation (Maylands head branch and Queens Park Perth Ummah Centre) reflects the geographic diversity of Perth’s Muslim population — no single venue serves all of the city’s Muslims. The forthcoming multi-purpose centre aims to consolidate resources.
The Perth Islamic Education Landscape: Gaps and Opportunities
School-age coverage: Al-Hidayah covers Kindergarten through Year 6 in Bentley. There is no ISAA-affiliated Islamic secondary school in Perth listed in current ISAA membership data — a significant gap for families who want their children to continue Islamic education in an Islamic school environment through high school. (The Australian Islamic College operates multiple campuses in WA including Langford, with secondary provision, but operates somewhat independently of the ISAA model.)
Mosque madrasah coverage: Perth’s Muslim community is served by a network of mosque madrasahs that is less documented than Sydney’s or Melbourne’s. ICWA’s Saturday Quran Class and Dar al-Huda, Ar-Rukun’s Tahfiz programme, and Al-Hidayah’s school programme represent documented formal provision — but community madrasahs at individual mosques around Perth’s suburbs (Cannington, Thornlie, Morley, Mirrabooka) serve families not captured in this documentation.
WWCC in WA: Western Australian law requires Working with Children Checks (WWCC) for anyone working or volunteering with children in regulated activities — including Islamic education. The WA WWCC card is issued by the Department of Communities. For Al-Hidayah (a formal school), compliance is systematically managed. For smaller mosque madrasahs like Ar-Rukun’s Tahfiz programme, managing WWCC records for volunteer teachers and the imam is an administrative responsibility that requires systematic tracking.
Privacy Act compliance: The Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth) applies to organisations with annual revenue above $3 million, and the Australian Privacy Principles govern student data at Al-Hidayah as a formal school. Smaller mosque madrasahs below the revenue threshold may not be legally required to comply, but students and families increasingly expect their personal data to be handled appropriately regardless of legal minimum thresholds.
What Perth’s Islamic Education Institutions Need
Al-Hidayah Islamic School:
- A Compass/Synergetic-integrated Islamic education module for Quran progression and Islamic Studies records
- Or a standalone Islamic education management system that runs alongside Compass for the Islamic curriculum
Ar-Rukun Tahfiz Programme:
- Student enrolment and contact management
- Tahfiz progression tracking (pages heard, strength assessed, revision plan per student)
- Parent communication portal (what pages were covered today, what needs revision at home)
- WWCC record management for the imam and any volunteer supervisors
ICWA community madrasah:
- Term-based class management with student rolls
- Fee collection and receipt management for the Saturday Quran Class
- Parent notification system for school holiday dates and class changes
These are not complex requirements — they are the baseline administrative needs of any Islamic education programme that takes its students’ and parents’ time seriously.
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