From hair length to skirt length, school uniform policies, or dress codes, dictate many aspects of a student's appearance.
They're sometimes challenged by students and parents — with varying outcomes depending on whether the breach takes place at a public or private school.
Recently, a Queensland tribunal found a school didn't discriminate against a student by requiring girls to wear skirts to formal school occasions.
So what is the purpose of a school uniform policy or dress code? How enforceable is it? And can it be successfully challenged?
The purpose of a uniform policy
Broadly speaking uniform policies are about unity and uniformity, says Kayla Mildren.
She's a PhD candidate from Griffith University researching uniform policies in Australian high schools.
"Many schools say it binds community together, giving common and coherent purpose," Ms Mildren says.
"There is an argument that uniforms minimise social economic difference and the financial burden of free dress, [include] sun safe practices and generally promote equality."
The Department of Education Queensland, responsible for public schooling in the state, says student dress codes are designed to reflect the values and standards of the school community, while "preparing students for the expectations of potential future workplaces".
"The dress code is flexible and allows the right of choice, including choice of shorts and pants, for all students regardless of gender," a spokesperson says.
Ms Mildren says this is not the case for many private schools, which can set parameters based on gender.
The researcher has spoken to students across Australia about uniform policies and says while some state a uniform acts as a "genuine symbol of achievement and belonging", others say it has "actively othered them" because the school "didn't care about who they were".
What can a uniform policy include?
Uniform policies vary school to school, and especially between state and private schools, Ms Mildren explains.
Ms Mildren says private school uniform policies, and the uniform themselves, can be "more elaborate and expensive" than those at state schools.
The policies primarily regulate the uniform itself, she says, including what times it must be worn, who has to wear it, how and where.
"[They] can also speak to students' attitude and behaviour while wearing the uniform, for example: uniform must be worn with pride.
"It also regulates non-uniform appearance like hair, headgear, hair ties, jewellery — and that can be really specific down to how thick a hoop [earring] can be, what metals are approved.
"Facial hair, fake nails, tattoos — pretty much anything you can regulate there will be a school somewhere regulating it."
Are uniform policies enforceable?
Whether a school has a right to enforce a uniform policy with consequences including suspension or expulsion will depend on whether it is a private or public school, explains Kim Richardson, principal solicitor in general practice at Youth Law Australia.
"If it's a public school, they can't suspend you or expel you for not following the dress code, but they can still take disciplinary action.
"Generally private schools can set their own rules and can discipline students for not following them — as long as the rules are not unreasonable or harmful to students.
"This is because when you enrol at a private school … you enter into a contract with the school to follow its polices."
For the most part, Ms Mildren says disciplinary procedures around not conforming with uniform policy operate similarly to other breaches and may involve warning notes, contact with a parent, detention or suspension.
School uniform policies and the law
Ms Richardson says the only state and federal laws that may come into play when it comes to uniform policies relate to human rights, equal opportunity and discrimination legislation.
"That requires that students are not discriminated against — directly or indirectly — on the grounds of personal characteristics such as age, disability, gender identity, race, religious belief, sex or sexual orientation.
"Direct discrimination may occur where a school has different uniform requirements for students with different personal characteristics and this difference results in one group of students being treated less favourably than another.
"Indirect discrimination occurs when treating everybody the same way disadvantages someone because of a personal characteristic."
She says, for example, a school's physical education uniform could discriminate indirectly against students who have cultural or religious requirements to dress modestly.
Lack of gender and cultural considerations
Ms Mildren says from what she has observed through her studies, most issues that arise from uniform policies surround gender and culture.
For example, Ms Mildren says there was a case of a private Christian school requiring a Cook Islands boy to cut his long hair, which he was growing for cultural reasons.
"The school lost that one."
She says private schools often specify different guidelines based on gender.
"Girls will have restrictions on long hair, such as it needs to be kept off the shoulders, and the male counterpart will be nothing below the ear lobes, nothing below the eyebrows.
"It's clearly a conservative valuing of gender normativity; there is a persistent belief … that boys are boys and girls are girls.
"There is never a gender-diverse student [example in the policies]."
And while she says school dress codes are "evolving", there is more work to be done.
"I've seen schools revise policies and remove more troubling regulations like banning dreadlocks or excessive braiding which is linked to students of colour.
"We do have progress. Sometimes it's forced, but compared to 50 years ago, absolutely it's so much better."
Can you challenge a school's uniform policy?
State schools are governed by department policy relating to dress codes, says Ms Mildren, and some private schools will have a governing body overseeing operations.
Ms Richardson says if a student or parent has an issue with a uniform policy, the first step should be to discuss any concerns with the school directly, and from there, the department, governing body, or board.
"However, depending on what the concern is with the school dress code, the student may be able to make a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission or state based equivalent.
"We would also encourage anyone that has any questions to contact Youth Law Australia for [free] legal advice."
The Department of Education Queensland says parents are encouraged to reach out to the school and P&C directly if they have concerns.
