Inclusive Education, Volume 7 (Part A)

The DRC recommendation

States and territories should amend education Acts (or the equivalent) to: 

• create a legal entitlement for students with disability to enrol in a local mainstream school 
• provide that the right to enrolment is subject only to ‘unjustifiable hardship’ in the sense used in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth).

State and territory governments should take the following actions to prevent gatekeeping in mainstream schools: 

• maintain a central record of decisions on enrolment refusal or cancellation and provide an annual report to the responsible minister for education on trends and any additional actions required to address barriers 
• establish an independent review process to enable a parent or supporter of a child or young person with disability to challenge a refusal to enrol the child or young person in a school. 

State and territory educational authorities should disseminate clear, accessible, transparent material for students with disability and their families on their rights, the obligations of schools relating to applications to attend a local school, and review processes. 

The DRC recommendation

State and territory educational authorities should review all regulations, rules, procedures and other instruments regulating exclusionary discipline to ensure they: 

• adopt the principle that education providers: 
  • should avoid the use of exclusionary discipline on students with disability unless exclusion is necessary as a last resort to avert the risk of serious harm to the student, other students or staff 
  • in considering the use of exclusionary discipline, consider the student’s disability, needs and age, and the particular effects of exclusionary discipline for young children 
  • require steps to be taken before exclusion to ensure an individual behaviour plan and reasonable adjustments have been implemented for the student, including consultation with the student and their family, carers or supporters. 
• include a duty for principals to report the repeated use of exclusionary discipline involving a student with disability to an escalation point within educational authorities for independent case management 
• include a robust review or appeals process for students with disability and their families or carers and supporters 
• ensure students with disability have access to educational materials appropriate to their educational and behavioural needs while subject to exclusionary discipline 
• support students with disability to re-engage in education post exclusion. 

State and territory educational authorities should review provisions governing the registration of non-government schools to impose obligations relating to exclusionary discipline in the non-government sector that are commensurate with those of the government sector. 

Section 22(2)(b) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) should be amended to cover ‘suspension and exclusion’ as well as expulsions. 

The DRC recommendation

a) State and territory educational authorities should develop and make available in accessible form: 

• guidelines to enable schools, principals and teachers to comply with their statutory obligations to provide adjustments for children and young people with disability 
• guidelines addressing the relationship between the statutory duty to provide adjustments and duties of care imposed on educational authorities, schools, principals, teachers and staff, such as those imposed by occupational health and safety legislation and the general law 
• guidelines addressing the processes for identifying, planning, implementing and evaluating adjustments required for individual students with disability 
• guidelines explaining the nature and content of the obligation under the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth) (Education Standards) to consult with students with disability and their parents, carers and supporters 
• information explaining the sources of funding for providing supports to students with disability and the procedures governing the allocation of funds for that purpose 
• requirements for schools and principals to keep records and to report on the provision of adjustments for individual students with disability 
• guidelines for developing individual learning plans for students with disability, including requirements for keeping records on the learning program for each student and for making the records available to parents, carers and supporters 
• guidelines for ensuring equal access to consent, relationships and sexuality education for students with disability through learning resources, including for neurodiverse students and LGBTIQA+ students.

b) State and territory educational authorities should ensure that education providers have greater access to tools and resources to: 

• assist principals and teachers to adapt the curriculum and teaching and assessment practices to enable diverse learners, especially those with complex communication or support needs, to participate in learning experiences on the same basis as students without disability enrolled in the same course (subject to the unjustifiable hardship qualification in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)) 
• support culturally safe adjustments to teaching strategies for particular students with disability, such as First Nations students and students from culturally and linguistically diverse communities. 

c) The Australian Government, through the responsible minister, should consider whether the Education Standards should be amended to address the proposals in a) and b). However, any such consideration should not delay state and territory educational authorities implementing a) and b). 

The DRC recommendation

State and territory school educational authorities should: 

• wherever practicable, locate any new non-mainstream schools and, over time, relocate existing non-mainstream schools within or in close proximity to mainstream schools 
• facilitate, to the maximum extent feasible, participation by individual students and groups of students enrolled in non-mainstream schools in educational, cultural, sporting, recreational and celebratory activities with their peers (whether with or without disability) enrolled in mainstream schools 
• create partnerships between mainstream and non-mainstream schools as a means of encouraging and arranging regular interchange between students enrolled in each setting. 

Why we reject this recommendation

We have deep concerns about first locating or relocating segregated education settings to new sites in close proximity to mainstream schools. There should be no new segregated schools or units located anywhere, with all investment in new provisions to instead be allocated toward achieving genuine inclusion. Relocating existing ‘special’ schools would be a very expensive interim measure and the funding required would be much better spent in achieving the overall goal of ending segregation. Once new segregated settings are established, it will become very difficult to dismantle them, especially given the typical lifespan of school infrastructure is much longer than the proposed interim period. The likely effect of such an approach would be to cause lag in the transition timeframes and waste precious school funding.  

Further, most students living with disability are forced to travel long distances to ‘special’ schools, so the nearby mainstream schools these would be co-located with are unlikely to be the local schools of a majority of students and, therefore, not preferred or likely options for their future inclusive education. Hence, such a step will not constitute a genuine transition for most students. The focus of transition stages must be toward genuine inclusion, not making expensive geographic moves with little to no beneficial impact. 

The DRC recommendation

State and territory educational authorities should implement a careers guidance and transition support service for students with disability to aid transition from all educational institutions to further education and/or open employment. The service should: 

• commence transition planning in year 9 in collaboration with students, their parents and carers to help students define and articulate their goals and aspirations beyond school 
• take into account the diversity of students with disability, including students with higher levels of support needs, First Nations students and students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds 
• provide students with disability and their families access to clear and accessible information and resources about future study options and labour market opportunities 
• provide students with opportunities to undertake work experience in open employment aligned with their goals and interests 
• provide linkages to further education providers, employment service providers and government services (including the National Disability Coordination Officer Program, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) School Leaver Employment Support, Disability Employment Services, and NDIS Local Area Coordinators). 

Why we think this recommendation should go further

Career guidance and support should start much earlier than year 9 to enable children and young people to be informed to imagine and articulate a future vision for their post-school life and to be supported to work toward this.  

The DRC recommendation

a) State and territory educational authorities should update their policies and guidance for schools to support the implementation and continuous improvement of requirements for student and parental communication and relationships. These should: 

• include clear, accessible material for students with disability and their families on their rights and school obligations 
• target decision-making for individual students and at the whole-of-school-level 
• cover applications to attend a local school and address how students and parents should expect to be involved in decision making, adjustments and complaints handling and informal resolution processes 
• indicate types of decisions that require formal parental agreement, such as approaches to behaviour management 
• be co-designed with people with disability and their families. 

b) State and territory educational authorities should develop material similar to that outlined in a) specifically for First Nations students with disability in consultation with First Nations students with disability, parents and kinship carers. The cultural diversity and understanding of disability in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures should be considered in this process. 

c) School principals should work with their governing bodies and school communities to establish local school policies, procedures and practices to enable students with disability and their parents, carers and advocates to fully and effectively take part in the school community and decisions that affect a student’s educational experience. 

d) In undertaking c), school principals should consult with First Nations parents and kinship carers and consider the cultural diversity and understanding of disability in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. 

e) The Australian Government through the responsible minister, should consider updating the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth) to: 

• ensure students with disability can participate as fully as possible in an age-appropriate manner in decision making concerning their educational programs and the adjustments they require 
• entitle parents, supporters and carers of students with disability to be assisted by schools or principals on decisions relating to school-wide adjustments to facilities and classroom practices of particular significance to students with disability. 

The DRC recommendation

a) State and territory educational authorities should establish inclusive education units within the relevant departments. These units should provide: 

• advice to educational authorities, educational institutions and principals on inclusive education issues and policies, and on funding priorities 
• resources and advice to schools and teachers about implementing inclusive education. 

b) Educational authorities should ensure that inclusive education units contain First Nations expertise to allow them to take actions required to improve access to inclusive and culturally appropriate education for First Nations students with disability. 

The DRC recommendation

Knowledge and skills

a) The Education Ministers Meeting should commission the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) to review and amend the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) to embed a human rights based approach to inclusive education for students with disability across teachers’ careers. 

b) To provide guidance for teachers on the revised APST, the Education Ministers Meeting should instruct AITSL to develop an inclusive education capability framework, setting out the knowledge, skills and attitudes to deliver inclusive education. 

Continuing professional development 

c) State and territory educational authorities should create and implement professional development strategies based on an inclusive education capability framework for principals, teachers, teaching assistants and teachers of deaf children. 

Disability expertise and skills shortages 

d) The Education Ministers Meeting should expand the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan to identify actions that can strengthen initial teacher education in inclusive education and attract and retain people with disability and others with expertise in delivering inclusive education. 

e) State and territory governments should increase access to expertise in inclusive education in government schools by: 

• employing lead practitioners specialising in inclusive teaching, behavioural support and deaf education to work across schools in a regional catchment to initiate and lead activities that focus on improving educational opportunities for students with disability, including by establishing inclusive learning environments that meet the needs of students 
• employing skilled and qualified Auslan interpreters 
• setting employment targets for people with disability in government schools and working with all school sectors in their jurisdiction to increase disability employment. 

The DRC recommendation

Data development and collection 

a) The Education Ministers Meeting should: 

• commission a national project to develop data definitions and data collection methods to enable consistent and comparable reporting on educational experiences and outcomes of students with disability 
• ensure data and information (as detailed at the Appendix and disaggregated by Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) category, gender, age, stage of schooling, First Nations students, students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and LGBTIQA+ status) is collected by state and territory departments on: 
  • student experiences 
  • school outcomes for students with disability 
  • progress in addressing barriers to inclusive education practices. 

b) State and territory governments should enhance data systems and processes to enable all schools to submit at least the minimum data required in the prescribed format.  

c) State and territory school registration authorities should: 

• embed data requirements set by the Education Ministers Meeting in registration requirements for all schools in their jurisdiction 
• require parents registering children with disability for home schooling with the state or territory school regulator to submit standardised information about their child’s educational, social and behavioural progress and support needs to improve understanding of students with disability who are being home schooled and their outcomes. 

Monitoring and reporting 

d) State and territory education departments should annually report jurisdictional data to the Education Ministers Meeting on minimum data requirements for students with disability. Based on the jurisdictional data, the Education Ministers Meeting should monitor and publicly report annually on: 

• the educational experiences of students with disability 
• outcomes of students with disability 
• progress in addressing barriers to inclusive education practices. 

e) To improve reporting of disability data, the Education Ministers Meeting should: 

• publish school-level NCCD student numbers (by adjustment level) on the My School website, having due regard for privacy issues 
• commission the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority to work with states and territories on data collection requirements to enable reporting on National Assessments Program – Literacy and Numeracy results for students with disability 
• include broader school workforce characteristics and information about workforce shortages in state and territory and Australian Government annual inclusive education reporting.

Improving the evidence base 

f) To improve the evidence base for best practice for inclusive education, the Education Ministers Meeting should commission the Australian Education Research Organisation to: 

• develop a research program about inclusive education practices, working with teachers, schools, education systems and people with disability 

• conduct and coordinate inclusive education research 
• support schools to translate research into school practices. 

The DRC recommendation

a) State and territory governments should create or expand existing complaint management offices that operate within educational authorities at arm’s length from schools to help resolve complaints about schools, specifically complaints concerning the treatment of students with disability. These offices should be empowered to: 

• provide students and parents with information about their rights and options when managing complaints 
• request information and conduct conciliations, connecting families with advocacy support and specialist disability expertise where needed 
• initiate a formal investigation if a complaint is serious or otherwise indicates systemic issues 
• support and assist the complainant in referring matters to the appropriate regulator or independent oversight body if a complaint cannot be effectively resolved 
• work with schools to analyse complaints and regularly report on how education systems might improve to reduce future complaints 
• work with school principals to ensure school policies are student-centric, accessible, efficient, safe, trauma-informed and culturally appropriate. 

b) The Australian Government should include new duties and measures relating to complaint management procedures in the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth) (Education Standards) to help achieve national quality and consistency, and ensure complaint handling processes are student-centric, accessible, efficient, safe, trauma-informed and culturally appropriate. 

c) State and territory school registration authorities should embed new complaint handling duties and measures for compliance, as defined in the Education Standards, in registration requirements for all schools in their jurisdiction as a basis to monitor and enforce compliance. 

d) School principals should ensure their school-level operating policies and procedures for handling complaints: 

• satisfy the Education Standards requirements 
• are student-centric, accessible, efficient, safe, trauma-informed and culturally appropriate 
• are observed in practice. 

The DRC recommendation

a) State and territory governments should strengthen the enforcement of inclusive education practices by expanding school registration requirements to include: 

• school enrolment policies (see Recommendation 7.1) 
• procedures to ensure members of the school workforce understand their obligations and are supported to access professional development (see Recommendation 7.8) 
• procedures to collect, analyse and report on complaints and the use of restrictive practices and exclusionary discipline (see Recommendations 7.2 and 7.10) 
• reporting on the use of funding for students with disability (see Recommendation 7.12). 

b) State and territory school registration authorities should monitor compliance with these requirements through cyclical reviews of schools and out-of-cycle reviews in response to individual complaints (or complaint trends) or other information that indicates possible non-compliance with regulatory requirements. 

c) The Western Australian, Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory governments should identify appropriate mechanisms to ensure government schools in their jurisdictions are subject to these mandatory obligations, with appropriate monitoring, compliance and enforcement. 

The DRC recommendation

a) The Australian Government should work with the Education Ministers Meeting to refine the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) levels of adjustments and associated funding for students with disability in response to the findings of the Student with disability loading settings review. 

b) The Australian Government and the Education Ministers Meeting should review disability loading settings and total funding for adjustments every five years to ensure the funding allocated bears a close relationship to the actual cost of supporting students with disability in classrooms and to determine appropriate indexation and distribution of funding. 

c) State and territory governments should ensure they are using a disability funding model based on strengths and needs that aligns with enhanced NCCD levels of adjustment and Australian Government needs-based funding arrangements to enable students with disability to access and participate in education on an equal basis to their peers. 

d) State and territory education departments should improve transparency on the use of disability funding in the government school sector by: 

• developing a methodology and reporting template to record the use of all sources of school funding against defined categories of adjustments and support for students with disability 
• applying this methodology and template to record expenditure on services and staff commissioned by the department on behalf of schools for students with disability 
• publicly reporting on how the needs of students with disability are being met from all available resources, with early priority given to capturing the use of disability-specific loadings and other disability-specific program funding.

e) State and territory school registration authorities should require schools to complete the funding template mentioned at d) and submit the template to the relevant state or territory education department.

Why we support pending further details

We strongly endorse improving funding, but consideration must also be given to how funding is used to ensure it supports approaches that are genuinely inclusive with appropriate accountability and transparency mechanisms in place.  

The DRC recommendation

a) The Education Ministers Meeting should publicly release a ‘National Roadmap to Inclusive Education’ for students with disability. The roadmap should: 

• detail the outcome measures, targets, actions and milestones for delivering the Royal Commission’s recommendations for inclusive education
• provide public transparency on how the recommendations will be implemented and progress tracked and publicly reported.

b) State and territory education ministers should report annually to the Education Ministers Meeting on progress against agreed milestones and associated outcome performance measures in the roadmap. Annual progress reports should outline actions to overcome identified barriers to progress and be publicly released. 

c) The Education Ministers Meeting should identify the National Roadmap to Inclusive Education in its 2024 report to National Cabinet as one of its priorities and include it in its workplan.

Why we strongly support with a clear timeline

We believe a deadline of 12 months or, at a maximum, no more than 24 months should be set for a genuine co-design process to develop a Roadmap. 

The DRC recommendation

Commissioners Bennett, Galbally and McEwin recommend: 

a) The Australian Government and state and territory governments should recognise that inclusive education as required by article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is not compatible with sustaining special/segregated education as a long-term feature of education systems in Australia. 

b) As part of the National School Reform Agreement 2025–2029, the Education Ministers Meeting should agree to: 

• the phasing out of special/segregated education 
• no new special/segregated schools being built or new special/segregated classes or units being included within schools from 2025 
• a process for work on milestones and activities related to ceasing special/segregated education by all jurisdictions. 

c) As part of the National School Reform Agreement 2030–2034, the Education Ministers Meeting should agree to milestones for phasing out and ending special/segregated education settings and financial penalties for failing to meet these milestones, including: 

• no new enrolments of students with disability in special/segregated schools from 2032 
• no new placements of students with disability in special/segregated units or classes from 2041 
• no students remaining in special/segregated schools by the end of 2051. 

d) The Education Ministers Meeting should update the Roadmap to Inclusive Education and Australia’s Disability Strategy to incorporate the milestones and actions to phase out and end special/segregated education settings included in the National School Reform Agreement 2030–2034. 

e) The Australian Government should consider the design of a ‘Transition Fund’ under the National School Reform Agreement from 2028 to provide discrete funding to schools that require additional support as part of their transition journey, with clear performance and reporting requirements. 

f) Consistent with phasing out and ending special/segregated education, states and territories should implement the following recommendations: 

• when no students are in special/segregated schools, the sunsetting of: 
  • measures to prevent gatekeeping (see Recommendation 7.1) 
  • provisions to facilitate the engagement of students with disability enrolled in special/segregated schools with students and activities of mainstream schools (see Recommendation 7.4) 
• to prevent stigmatisation and segregation of students with disability, ensure the careers guidance and transition support program for students with disability (see Recommendation 7.5): 
  • is delivered alongside careers guidance for students without disability 
  • has clear rules that no student with disability can be referred to work experience or employment through Australian Disability Enterprises.

Why we strongly support with faster timeline

We believe all segregated education provisions can, and should, end within the term of Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031. 

Notwithstanding this, if governments feel it would be too difficult for them to support this recommendation at this time, we strongly recommend governments defer a decision on this so as to not adversely impact progress on other recommendations in support of inclusive education, particularly Recommendation 7.13. If governments reject this recommendation, progress on other recommendations is likely to be hampered as a clear signal in support of segregation will have been set in place. 

The DRC recommendation

The Chair and Commissioners Mason and Ryan recommend: 

a) State and territory educational authorities should implement the following measures: 

• wherever practicable locate new non-mainstream schools (that is, schools that enrol exclusively or primarily children and young people with complex support needs) and relocate existing non-mainstream schools within or in close proximity to mainstream schools 
• create partnerships between mainstream and non-mainstream schools as a means of encouraging and arranging regular interchange between groups of students enrolled in the schools 
• facilitate to the maximum extent feasible participation by individual students and groups of students enrolled in non-mainstream schools in educational, cultural, sporting, recreational and celebratory activities with their peers in partnership with mainstream schools and other educational institutions 
• arrange for students in non-mainstream schools, where practicable, to participate in classes and educational activities with their peers in mainstream schools 
• establish programs for students enrolled in mainstream schools to participate in activities with their peers in non-mainstream schools 
• provide, where appropriate, for concurrent enrolment for individual students in both mainstream and non-mainstream schools 
• assist non-mainstream schools to facilitate where appropriate, the transition of students with disability, particularly those with complex support needs, to mainstream schools, whether on a full-time or part-time basis 
• provide assistance to mainstream and non-mainstream schools in understanding the strengths and skills of students with disability for post-school transition, including assistance in planning and preparing for further study and training 
• ensure non-mainstream schools encourage and support students with disability completing their education to seek and obtain employment in the open labour market, rather than in Australian Disability Enterprises or similar environments. 

b) The National Disability Commission (see Recommendation 5.5) should conduct or arrange for a comprehensive review of progress towards providing inclusive education for children and young people with complex support needs. The review’s assessment should include the matters we have identified.

Why we strongly reject this recommendation

All children should be supported to attend their local school and receive a world-class inclusive education. Unfortunately, this is not currently the case and, therefore, children and their parents are forced to enter segregated education settings. Without safe inclusive alternatives, this does not constitute a genuine choice; instead it is a coerced choice.