A recent article by The Weekend Australian has revealed that nearly one in five students in government schools is classified as disabled yet only 13.6 per cent are getting assistance and just 6.2 per cent attract additional funding.

The increase has reportedly been driven by ‘a surge in cases of autism­ and foetal alcohol syndrome, combined with a broader definition of disability to include learning disorders such as dyslexia, plus life-threatening allergies and even diabetes.’ The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) defines ‘disability’ to include “a disorder, illness or disease that affects a person’s thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgment or that results in disturbed behaviour”.

In the UK, the increase in students with autism has led two British charities to call for teachers in the UK to be given compulsory training on autism.

Although this alarming statistic is based on data relating to government schools, the education and inclusion of students with a disability raises serious issues for all schools in Australia which are required to comply with the Disability Standards for Education 2005 under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth).

Schools struggling to cope

The Weekend Australian published some key statistics based on ‘confidential data, prepared for a scheduled meeting of education ministers’.

That article revealed that:

• a national audit ordered by federal, state and territory education ministers has revealed that 19.4 per cent of students nat­ionally have a disability or learning difficulty — ranging from 25.3 per cent in Queensland to 17 per cent in Victoria and Western Australia, 18.6 per cent in NSW and 21 per cent in South Australia;
• nationally:
  • one in 50 students requires ‘extensive’ assistance in class, meaning they need special equipment, psychologists, health therapists or attention from a teacher every one to three minutes;
  • 3.4 per cent — or one student in a typical classroom — need ‘substantial assistance’, including allied health therapists or psychologists, or help with toileting; and
  • 8.3 per cent — or two students in every class — require supplementary assistance, meaning they have a healthcare plan to treat life-threatening allergies or asthma, need extra time to finish their work or are given less work in class.

The article also reports that teachers have warned that classes were being disrupted due to the growing number of stud­ents requiring extra attention.

Senate Inquiry Report

The data reported on by The Weekend Australian creates further impetus for the recommendations made by the Senate Education and Employment References Committee in its January 2016 report Access to real learning: the impact of policy, funding and culture on students with disability (the Report) to be acted upon by the Federal Government. The Committee was commissioned to inquire into current levels of access and attainment for students with a disability in the school system, and the impact on students and families associated with inadequate levels of support (the Inquiry).

The Report states that approximately 90 per cent of students with a disability in Australia attend ‘mainstream schools’ – these being schools that are not special-purpose schools.

This statistic further emphasises the pressures being faced by government and non-government schools to accommodate such students.

The Committee made 10 recommendations in its Report including:

• Recommendation 6: a dedicated Disability Discrimination Commissioner be reinstated to the Australian Human Rights Commission; and
• Recommendation 7: that the Federal Government works with states, territories and school systems to:
  • establish a national approach to ending the bullying of students with disability. This should be supported with programs and resources for schools;
  • make it mandatory for all initial teacher education courses to ensure beginning teachers enter the classroom with best-practice skills in the inclusion of students with disability;
  • investigate the establishment of a national qualification standard for teachers’ aides and assistants to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills required to support learning for all students;
  • prioritise the development of a national approach to modifying the curriculum for students with a disability; and
  • better support school systems, teachers and principals to continually improve the accuracy and effectiveness of the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability program.

Funding is a key requirement for implementing the Report’s Recommendations – should the Federal Government choose to adopt them.

Although the Report states that the Federal Government is contributing more than $5 billion from 2014-2017, rising by $100 million each year ($1.1 billion in 2014; $1.2 billion in 2015, $1.3 billion in 2016 and $1.4 billion in 2017), the urgency of the situation suggests that action needs to be taken immediately.

The recommendation that teachers be provided with training on disability mirrors the call from the British National Autistic Society that was published in a letter to The Guardian. A recent study in the UK found that 58 per cent of children on the autism spectrum believed that school would improve if they were better understood by their teachers. Although an in-depth knowledge of disability is not always possible, training can provide all teachers with a general understanding of different disabilities and strategies to assist students in order to promote greater inclusion. Information and educational resources are available from organisations such as Autism Awareness or from government departments such as the Queensland Department of Education.

Issues associated with students with a disability

In addition to the resourcing issues faced by schools when trying to provide a satisfactory education to all their students, other issues related to disability discrimination mean that schools must take steps to ensure that all students feel safe at school.

Our previous articles demonstrate how important it is for schools to develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure that they are meeting their duty of care towards all students:

• Discrimination claim filed against Queensland school following allegations of bullying;
• Tribunal rejects parent’s race and disability discrimination complaint; and
• School ordered to pay $8,000 in damages to disabled student.

See also our article on how the Victorian Safe Schools Standards require schools to ensure that they promote the safety of children with a disability as part of their compliance with each Standard.