Recent research suggests that students with disability in Australia are not receiving the appropriate or sufficient support to achieve to their ability in a school setting. While they are supported by the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (DSE), Commonwealth and jurisdictional anti-discrimination laws, the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations and other child safe requirements, surveys and inquiries of both teachers and students alike suggest that there need to be reforms to ensure that staff receive more effective training and students receive more appropriate support.

What Are the Figures?

A 2018 survey conducted by the AIHW in relation to disability found that:

• One in 10, or 380,000 school-aged students, between five and 18 had disabilities
• Nine in 10 of these students went to mainstream schools.

The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), conducted in 2018 found the following statistics for teaching students with disability in Australia in both public and independent schools:

• 29 per cent of teachers work in classes with students that have identified disability
• 74 per cent of teachers were trained to teach in mixed-ability settings, but
• Only 38 per cent felt prepared to teach in these settings.

It is this final figure that is the most alarming. Nearly one-third of all Australian teachers have students with disability in their class or classes, but nearly two-thirds of these teachers feel that they are insufficiently prepared (trained) to best assist these students. Back in 2015, School Governance wrote about the alarming lack of resources in schools to ensure that students with disability were being catered for effectively and sufficiently. This OECD survey conducted three years later still indicates that not enough was being done.

Understanding Disability and Regulations

The Australian Government’s fact sheet on the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) defines disability as:

• total or partial loss of the person's bodily or mental functions
• total or partial loss of a part of the body
• the presence in the body of organisms causing disease or illness
• the presence in the body of organisms capable of causing disease or illness
• the malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of a part of the person's body
• a disorder or malfunction that results in the person learning differently from a person without the disorder or malfunction
• a disorder, illness or disease that affects a person's thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgment or that results in disturbed behaviour.

The DDA makes it unlawful for schools to discriminate against students (or staff) with disability. Schools must also comply with the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (DSE). Under the DSE, schools are required to provide additional support, or to provide adjustments to teaching, learning, and assessment activities for students with disability. In addition to preventing discrimination, the DSE seek to ensure that students with disability are able to access and participate in relation to their education on the same basis as students without disability.

In previous School Governance articles, we discussed the definition of “reasonable adjustments” or “reasonable accommodations” and how these terms can be put into practice. This DSE fact sheet states that the goal of the DSE is to ensure that all students with disability have access to participate in education “on the same basis as other students”.

Schools across the country have embraced this goal. There is very clear evidence that children with disability fare extremely well in mainstream classes when given the necessary support and opportunities to succeed. In a previous School Governance article, we wrote:

“Children who have had to deal with adversity of any sort in their lives bring an immense amount of resilience and a desire to do the best that they can do with the talents that they have. The other children can learn so much from this! Watching children working in groups and supporting each other, especially those with disabilities, is something that teachers yearn to see. In addition, having children with disabilities can assist teachers to hone their pedagogical skills."

In addition to the legislation and the DSE, schools in several states and territories (and more to follow) are required to follow the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. Principle Four states: “Equity is upheld and diverse needs respected in policy and practice”. This Principle focuses on schools building a culture that acknowledges the individuality of the child and embraces them regardless of abilities or other differences. This is indicative of schools needing specific policies to promote equity for all students. Schools can read more about the National Principles here.

What Is the Current State of Play?

The report of the Senate Education and Employment References Committee (Committee) on the Current Levels of Access and Attainment for Students with Disabilities in the School System states that approximately 90 per cent of students with disability in Australia attend mainstream schools. The Committee notes that, while schools in Australia are obliged by the DSE to make reasonable adjustments for students with disability, the evidence presented by witnesses and submitters demonstrated that far too often, this was not the experience for students with disability. For example, the Committee’s report notes that the Autism Collective Research Centre's (Autism CRC) survey of parents, teachers, and specialists of students with autism found that the top two reasons that students with autism couldn’t access appropriate education were the lack of funding for additional support and lack of suitable training for staff.

A very recent and interesting situation has arisen in Western Australia, where a group of parents, who have children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have recently been advocating for the establishment of an independent autism-specific school. In an interview with The West Australian, advocacy leader, Dr Emily Pearce, founder and chairperson of Furthering Autistic Children’s Education and Schooling (FACES) stated that “Teachers just don’t have the time or the resources, and often not the training, to provide the individualised learning these kids require.”

However, the Conversation’s article about Why Students with Disabilities are Continuing to go to Mainstream Schools outlines how staying in non-specialised schools has academic and social benefits for the child. Despite facing bullying and discrimination at higher rates than their peers, studies suggest that the opportunities in mainstream schools are greater than those that would come from specialised schools.

A review by the Australian Government Department of Education into the DSE, recommendations from the Australian Coalition for Inclusive Education and the recent hearing from the Disability Royal Commission have highlighted the areas that need to be addressed by education bodies and schools across the country, to better engage with, support and teach children with disability in mainstream classes.

The Australian Government Department of Education 2020 Review into the DSE highlighted four key areas that require addressing:

• supporting the empowerment of families of students with disability and the student
• strengthening the knowledge of teachers and education providers
• more accountability for following the DSE from education providers
• building awareness in the Early Childhood Care setting.

The Australian Coalition for Inclusive Education, a national coalition of disability advocates and organisations, released A Roadmap for Achieving Inclusive Education in Australia in February 2021. The roadmap is made up of two key areas:

• the key outcomes that need to occur
• the levers that are needed to actualise these outcomes.

The outcomes are categorised into six key pillars:

• ensure inclusive education
• phase out segregated education
• increase educational outcomes
• stop gatekeeping and other discrimination
• eliminate restrictive practices
• prevent suspensions and expulsions.

Each pillar includes short, medium and long-term outcomes.

The key levers for change identified were:

• legislative/policy change
• monitoring and accountability
• parent education and support
• teacher education
• school inclusion culture
• student agency and voice.

Their recommendations for change include investing in professional development for teachers, developing toolkits for families and educators, evaluating whole school inclusive practices, rewarding educators for good practices and empowering students with disability to be involved in democratic processes at schools.

Additionally, the Disability Royal Commission’s public hearing 24, in June 2022 focused on the education of young people with disability.

In Conclusion

What is clear from these reviews is that schools need to prioritise writing and establishing effective policies that comply with national and state requirements, and seek to ensure that students with disability receive quality of education that is comparable to their peers. Schools also need to invest resources into training and supporting their teachers, noting that nearly two-thirds of all teachers of students with disability in a class feel that they are insufficiently prepared to teach these children effectively.

In addition, schools must use their Commonwealth and state or territory funding to provide all students, including those with disability, with appropriate equipment and general resources so that ALL students are being educated to achieve their best.

Teachers who are trained and supported and who are given the resources to best teach their students, with or without disability, will without doubt better enable their students to achieve to the best of their ability.

Dr Cathy Cologon of Children and Young People with Disability Australia in her 2019 paper Towards inclusive education: A necessary process of transformation argues that it is now well established that inclusive education is a positive and necessary progression for education systems the world over. Although there are still some barriers to inclusive education, “inclusive education is recognised as a fundamental human right” that benefits students with disability and students and teachers without disability. She goes on to state:

“For students who do not experience disability, research finds that inclusive education results in: enhanced learning opportunities and experiences; education that is more sensitive to differing student needs; growth in interpersonal skills and greater acceptance and understanding of human diversity; and increased flexibility and adaptability. Furthermore, inclusive education has benefits for teachers in the form of improved teaching practices, with all the benefits that entails.”

Arguably this is what true ‘education’ (of the whole person) is all about.

Authors

Annalise Wright

Annalise is a Senior Onboarding Coordinator at CompliSpace. She has completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Political Science and International Relations and History from the University of Western Australia and is currently studying a Master of Public Policy at Monash University.

Craig D’cruz

With 39 years of educational experience, Craig D’cruz is the Principal Consultant and Sector Lead, Education at CompliSpace. Craig provides direction on education matters including new products, program/module content and training. Previously Craig held the roles of Industrial Officer at the Association of Independent Schools of WA, he was the Principal of a K-12 non-government school, Deputy Principal of a systemic non-government school and he has had boarding, teaching and leadership experience in both the independent and Catholic school sectors. Craig has also spent ten years on the board of a large non-government school and is a regular presenter on behalf of CompliSpace and other educational bodies on issues relating to school governance, school culture and leadership.