This study of educational provisions in Western Australia, an area of 2.5 million square kilometers with a mere 1.2 million inhabitants, provides a broad picture of the complex, difficult, and expensive undertaking of providing education to a small, widely-spread population which differs in demographic, economic, and cultural characteristics. The context within which these educational provisions are made is complex, involving the isolation of families on stations, farms, construction camps, or fishing bases; the impermanence of residence; the lack of "feeling of community"; the limited occupational, cultural, and intellectual opportunities of town residents; and the strong tribal-traditional identities retained by the outback Aborigines. Areas of the educational structure of particular relevance to sparsely populated Western Australia include the distribution of schools, staffing, professional development of teachers, school resources and facilities, curriculum, and academic achievement of students. Special provisions required to meet student needs include school transport services, facilities for boarding away from home, correspondence schools, two-way radio Schools of the Air, Isolated Students Matriculation Scheme, assistance for exceptional and Aboriginal children, the Disadvantaged Areas Program, and the pre-primary Rural Integration Programme. (NEC)