 Raising the participation age to 18 was first proposed to come into effect with the Education Act 1918.Plans for this were soon dropped when the government needed to cut public spending after World War I, as was the case when attempts were made to raise it in 1944, with cuts in spending after World War II delaying any plans preparing for it.The current age which a child can leave compulsory education in the state of New South Wales was raised to 17 in May 2009.