In The Media
In its final report handed down in September, the disability royal commission called for the phasing out of segregated education by 2051.
It’s a call that has sparked deep debate.
Even the six commissioners disagree. Only three — including the two who live with disability — recommended phasing special schools out. The other three did not think a total phasing out of special schools was necessary.
It’s uncertain what will follow the report. The federal government, which is establishing a disability commission task force to respond to all 222 recommendations, has said it won’t rush any decisions.
But one thing is clear. If special schools were to be phased out, mainstream education would have to become more inclusive.
David Armstrong is a government advisor on educational inclusion and neurodiversity and a senior lecturer in inclusion and disability at RMIT University.
He tells ABC RN’s Life Matters that in all facets of the education system, there are “parents withdrawing their kids from school, kids not attending, kids being excluded”.
“That’s all gone up. That’s all out of control.”
But he believes the commission’s report — which sets out “what needs to happen to lift up the mainstream schools [for students with disability] and support our teachers and families” — will help.
“We have to change,” he says.
“There has to be a bigger investment in our [mainstream] education system. And this is an opportunity to do that, for it to be better for all.”
Dr Armstrong says students with disability have a spectrum of needs — including high-level needs, temporary access needs (for example from a broken leg), or bereavement support.
He believes a mainstream school should be able to support students across that spectrum.
“I really welcome the report … because it sets out mechanisms and teeth to make that happen.”
Upskilling and more transparency
Recommendations for extra support for teachers feature significantly in the commission’s report.
“It talks about professional knowledge and skills for workforce development for our existing teacher workforce [and how] we can help them, equip them and build them up to be able to [work in inclusive environments],” Dr Armstrong says.
For example, the report discusses “reasonable adjustments” to support the needs of students with disability, so they can “access and participate in all aspects of their education”. And it recommends that teachers are better equipped with the information and knowledge they need to provide such adjustments and support.
Dr Armstrong says clarifications such as these “will help our hardworking teachers”.
Transparency, including within schools, is another point that features strongly in the report, something Dr Armstrong says is “hugely positive”.
He says increased transparency will address, and help extinguish, the practice of “gatekeeping” whereby some mainstream schools “persuad[e]” students with disability and their families not to attend by saying, “We think you’d be better served somewhere else”.
“These kinds of illegal, under-the-counter practices are happening — we know about [it] from research and from speaking to families affected.”
To combat this, the report recommends specific actions for schools, such as maintaining a central record of decisions on enrolment refusal and cancellation, and annual reporting to the responsible minister for education.
'This can be done'
Disability advocate and president of People with Disability Australia Nicole Lee says for mainstream education to be truly inclusive, it can’t adopt a “one-size-fits-all approach”.
And she says a model for flexible education settings already exists in smaller rural and remote schools, where classes often include a range of student ages, year levels and ability.
“That proves this can be done.
“We just have to think outside of the box and start looking at how we reconceptualise what education looks like, in an inclusive way.
“We have to … actually be more creative and willing to envision something other than what we’ve got.”
Ms Lee would like to see schools with teachers better resourced and supported, smaller classroom sizes, and the inclusion of breakout spaces — smaller spaces where students can retreat to while remaining part of the broader group.
She believes special school and mainstream school funding could be rolled into “one great big pool” so that funding, resources and staff with skills in disability education are “integrated into mainstream schools where they’re working alongside teachers”.
The issue of funding is a recurring one in inclusive education discussion.
According to the federal government’s 2020 review of the Disability Standards for Education, “many educators … did not have sufficient funding to support their students [with disability]”.
And it’s a problem that’s becoming more pressing.
Since 2015, the number of students with disability enrolled in Australian public schools has increased by 29 per cent, according to the Australian Education Union’s 2023 For Every Child report.
The disability commission’s report said: “Inadequate funding can mean students with disability do not receive the adjustments they need for inclusive education.”
It recommended the federal and state governments “refine funding for students with disability” to ensure it “bears a close relationship to the actual cost of supporting students with disability in classrooms”.
Not all inclusive changes cost money
Dr Armstrong says there are public schools in Australia that already support and include students with disability in the school community.
He points to Footscray High School in Melbourne’s west and Tagai State College in the Torres Strait as “models that are out there that we can use that actually help inclusion and help kids with high levels of needs remain in mainstream education and flourish”.
“So many schools already do [inclusive education],” he says.
“It can be done.”
He says there’s “a whole ecology” of approaches to improve mainstream classrooms for people with disability — and not all of them cost money.
“A lot of it is attitudinal,” he says.
“For instance, there is no dollar value attached to talking to a child and asking them what they need and get[ting] them to show you what they can do … It’s a simple thing. It costs nothing. It gives you an insight into what their functioning levels are and then you can set appropriate [school] work.”
Dr Armstrong believes the disability royal commission’s report presents an important opportunity for change.
“We can do this. But it needs support from the sector and buy-in, and obviously political support as well,” he says.
Ms Lee agrees and says change must be led by the disability community.
“Let the disability community work through and decide … on our terms, for our people.”
She says it’s essential people with disability are “in the driving seat”, determining how inclusive learning environments can and should operate.
