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The right to a fully inclusive education system is still out of reach for many children and young people with disability in Australia, according to Children and Young People with Disability Australia.
The organisation found over 7 out of 10 disabled students were bullied last year. Out of the 118 Australian students who took part in a survey by CYDA, more than two in three left the education system early, citing inaccessibility, discrimination, and bullying as the main reasons.
Now, a collective of 19 leading disability advocacy groups are rallying together to call on all candidates campaigning in the Federal election to commit to a National Roadmap for Inclusive Education.
Skye Kakoschke-Moore, CEO of Children and Young People with Disability Australia, says inclusive education is not negotiable.
Without a concrete and actionable plan to address systemic barriers in Australia, students with disability will continue to be denied their fundamental right to be safe and included at school
Skye Kakoschke-Moore
While the Disability Royal Commission outlined the urgent need for a roadmap in 2023, the Federal government and all states and territories only accepted this need ‘in principle.’
“It’s time for every candidate that cares about children and young people to come to the table, to pledge to a National Roadmap, and to make sure the Federal government guides and supports states and territories on timely implementation,” Ms Kakoschke-Moore says.
Unfortunately, there have been no clear steps taken toward the phasing out of segregated education.
Darryl Steff, CEO of Down Syndrome Australia, argues that segregated education leads to segregation in all areas of life.
“We know that students in segregated settings overwhelmingly go on to be workers in segregated settings – segregated education leads to segregated employment. We must tackle both to ensure people with disability live within our communities.”
What’s more, there has been a complete lack of sufficient commitment to ensure full public-school funding is directed toward making schools truly inclusive.
Isabella Choate, CEO of the Youth Disability Advocacy Network, is worried about what this means for Australian students with disabilities and their families.
“What message does that send to the many disabled children and young people who took the time to share their experiences of exclusion, segregation, and bullying at school with the Commissioners?”
“This delay on meaningful action is just not good enough, and I think that’s something most electoral candidates would agree on. It’s time for leadership on inclusive education,” Ms Choate says.
Advocates say while recent news of additional funding for public schools under the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement 2025-2034 is welcome, it is severely undermined by an overall lack of inclusion and accessibility measures.
Several advocacy organisations behind the push for improved inclusive education argue that it is not an optional ideal for students with disability, but a fundamental human right.
“It is unacceptable in 2024 that Australia continues to have no clear plan towards an inclusive education system, which is a requirement under international human rights agreements,” Darryl Steff, CEO of Down Syndrome Australia says.
Australia committed to inclusive education when it agreed to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (UNCRPD) nearly two decades ago in 2008.