For most primary school councils, there are several possible categories of membership:

A mandated elected Parent member category
More than one-third of the total members must be from this category. DET employees can be Parent members at their child’s school as long as they are not engaged in work at the school

A mandated elected DET employee member category
Members of this category may make up no more than one-third of the total membership of school council. The principal of the school is automatically one of these members

An optional Community member category
Members are co-opted by a decision of the council because of their special skills, interests or experiences. DET employees are not eligible to be Community members

A small number of school councils have Nominee members.

For all schools with a Year 7 and above cohort, there is an additional category of membership:

A mandated elected Student member category (two positions)

Generally, the term of office for all members is two years. The term of office of half the members expires each year, creating vacancies for the annual school council elections.