DRC response and children living with disability.

Speaker 1 00:00

Well, at CIDR we have a particular interest in inclusive education. For very many years we've been advocating for what we refer to as a real transformation of Australia's education system, so a way that we can move to a full inclusion in schools in a way that just doesn't happen now.

Speaker 1 00:18

When we saw the Disability Royal Commissions Report come out, there were, there was a split between the commissioners as to the future of inclusive education in Australia. On the one hand, the commissioners with disability recommended a phase in the other segregated education over a period of about 28 years, whereas the other commissioners recommended that the continued dual track system that we have at the moment continues.

Speaker 1 00:44

The federal government didn't take a position on that issue, they noted those recommendations. They in territory governments have done similarly, they've either noted them or said they were going to give them further consideration, with the exception of Victoria, and in Victoria the government there has said that they are supportive of the recommendation made by the commissioners without disability,

Speaker 1 01:08

and that's for essentially the status quo to continue, but with some moves to, I think what they call integration and more inclusion in schools, but certainly not a move to the transformation of the education system for so many children with disability and their families that they would really want to see.

Speaker 2 01:28

And what about the 2002 survey that revealed that one in four or one in five children and young people living with disability had experienced some sort of restraint in the classroom?

Speaker 1 01:45

Yeah, absolutely. So one side I ran a survey a few years ago, we heard it was one in four students had reported having to endure some form of restrictive practice in the classroom. The Royal Commission did make some recommendations about that, that the federal government has accepted in principle in relation to restrictive practices.

Speaker 1 02:08

The recommendation or the government has said that they're going to invest about $1 .2 million to set up a framework, looking at how to reduce restrictive practices. At CIDR we think that that doesn't go far enough, we want to see a complete elimination of restrictive practices in the classroom because when you look at the reality of what that means, it's absolutely devastating for the children who need to undergo this.

Speaker 1 02:36

It could be physical, they may be restrained physically, they may be put in covered within the school, they may be required to take medication that they don't want to take. So restrictive practices have a huge impact on children with disability and it's still happening in schools, this isn't something that stopped when the Royal Commission handed down its final report.

Speaker 1 02:59

So we're pleased to see that the government has agreed to take some action on this but it doesn't go far enough in our view.

Speaker 2 03:06

What's the worst case of what's the drink you'd see in the education sector?

Speaker 1 03:12

It was only this week that I was talking to somebody who was recounting to me a conversation that they'd had with somebody in the school community, I went south, it was a parent or if it was a teacher, but only recently they were talking about the fact that a child had been put in a cage in school.

Speaker 1 03:28

It's completely outrageous. Unacceptable doesn't go nearly far enough. And that's why the government taking really urgent and swift action to address the use of restrictive practices in school is so critical.

Speaker 2 03:41

And just finally, what's the best case scenario you can think of?

Speaker 1 03:45

It's a great question. So often we get caught up in the here and the now and trying to understand what the government's response is. I think the best case scenario, we take a long -term view and we're able to look back and say 10 to 15 years time and see that the recommendations that the DRC made that were implemented by the government has actually made a difference.

Speaker 1 04:06

So that in 10 to 15 years time, we don't need another Royal Commission into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. For me, that's not the best possible outcome. It's the only acceptable outcome and we actually need to go much further than that and see people with disability, including children and young people, truly included in their communities, not segregated, not experiencing violence, abuse,

Speaker 1 04:29

neglect and really thriving just as they should, just as they're entitled to with all of their human rights recognised.