The Federal Government has supported the holding of a Senate Inquiry into students with a disability and their experiences in the Australian education system including allegations of mistreatment.
On 17 June 2015 a motion moved on behalf of Labor Senator Kim Carr and Independent Queensland Senator Glenn Lazarus called for the inquiry by the Senate Education and Employment References Committee (Committee) (Inquiry).
What will the Inquiry do?
The Inquiry will investigate the following matters:
- current levels of access and attainment for students with disability in the school system, and the impact on students and families associated with inadequate levels of support;
- the social, economic and personal benefits of improving outcomes for students with a disability at school and in further education and employment;
- the impact on policies and the education practice of individual education sectors as a result of the More Support for Students with Disabilities program, and the impact of the cessation of this program in 2014 on schools and students;
- the future impact on students with disability as a result of the Federal Government’s decision to index funding for schools at the consumer price index after 2017;
- the progress of the implementation of the needs based funding system as stated in the Australian Education Act;
- how possible changes as a result of the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability will be informed by evidence based best practice of inclusion of students with disability;
- what should be done to better support students with disability in our schools;
- the early education of children with disability; and
- any other related matter.
As part of the Inquiry the Committee will call for submissions from the public and will hold a public hearing. Once the Committee has finalised its research and evidence collection, a report will be prepared for consideration by the Senate, which includes recommendations on what changes, if any, should be made to legislation, regulation or other areas relevant to the education of students with disabilities. The Federal Government is then expected to formally respond to the Inquiry’s recommendations.
The report is expected to be presented by 3 November 2015.
Welcome news
The announcement of the Inquiry has been welcomed by various disability organisations who look forward to participating in the Inquiry.
Down Syndrome Australia’s (DSA) media release referred to figures available from the Department of Human Services which show that only 52.8% of all people with a disability are employed in the workforce versus 82% of the able bodied population, while only 1 in 3 disability employment placements continue for more than 12 months. Better staff training and access to education are key objectives of reform for DSA.
DSA also shares the concerns of Children with Disability Australia, whose recent survey found that 68% of all parents surveyed believe that their children are not receiving adequate support at school.
One in four children with disability has been refused enrolment at some point, and a further 17% are only offered part-time enrolment. The survey also exposed both active and passive exclusion of students with disability on a day-to-day basis – an experience often stated by parents with a child with Down syndrome.
39% of respondents said that children with disability were regularly excluded from school activities, such as excursions,the playground at recess and lunch, school discos and after-school clubs and classes, because the school did not have the resources to enable them to attend.
Review of Disability Standards for Education
The news of the Inquiry adds strength to current efforts to examine and review the standard of education available to students with disabilities.
All schools are required to comply with the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth) (the Standards) under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth).
The Standards seek to ensure that students with a disability are not discriminated against or harassed and are able to access and participate in education on the same basis as students without a disability.
In many cases, schools encounter difficulty with facilitating the education needs of students with disabilities due to a lack of funding or other resources. Furthermore, studies have shown that many affected students are unaware that the Standards exist or know how to complain if those Standards are not followed by an education insitution.
The Standards are currently being reviewed by the Federal Minister for Education and Training and the Attorney-General’s Department. Part of the review includes a focus on the effectiveness of the Standards in:
- supporting students with a disability to access and participate in education on the same basis as other students; and
- raising awareness and eliminating discrimination against people with a disability in education and training.
A final report of the review is due to be submitted to the Minister by 17 July 2015.
Next steps
It will be interesting to see whether the recommendations from the reivew of the Standards have any influence on the work of the Inquiry and whether, as a result, wholesale reform of the education system is recommended to improve the quality of education for students with disabilities.
See our article ‘Schools lack resources to teach disabled students‘ for more information on this topic and associated anti-discrimination concerns.
It is hoped that the recommendations of the Inquiry will facilitate the implementation of the Standards (in their current or revised form) by all schools, to the benefit of students with disabilities.
