The role of PLATO in leading public opinion against OBE was acknowledged in many academic papers on the subject.

[2] Western Australia’s experience commenced with the development of the 1999 Curriculum Framework which became mandatory for all schools in the state.

In May 2006 retired Professor Steve Kessell stated that the teachers who opposed OBE where not a handful of troublemakers, but the overwhelming majority.

The push to introduce outcomes based assessment in place of conventional examinations led to significant community opposition, supported by The West Australian, and became a major political issue for the Carpenter ministry.

In 2008 it was officially abandoned by the state government with Minister for Education Mark McGowan remarking that the 1990s fad "to dispense with syllabus" was over.