In the lead up to this election and before, All Means All has worked to engage with politicians and policy makers in relation to the education of students with disabilities and we have welcomed the major parties that have reached out to us and to our members to help shape their policy positions at this federal election.
With only one day before Australians cast their votes, here is our overview of policy and initiatives pledged by the major parties in relation to the education of students with disabilities.
Additional Funding
While as a matter of constitutional arrangements, it is the States and Territories that are generally responsible for schools, the Australian federal government has a role particularly in relation to providing funding education. When it comes to education of students with disabilities the Australian government has a further role given its international law obligations through the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities, to ensure that students with disabilities can realise their rights to education.
In relation to funding, the Coalition’s only promise is to support the National School Resourcing Board to review current funding arrangements resulting from its reforms to the schools funding package, and develop a fairer model for all schools. While the current arrangements have been modeled on the approach recommended by the Gonski Review undertaken by a previous Labor Government, funding levels under the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government have not reached the levels recommended by the Review and the Coalition has not committed to additional funding beyond projected current funding levels.
Labor has promised to increase funding for schools to reach the levels recommended under the Gonski Review, and to provide an additional $300 million funding over the first three years of a Shorten Labor Government to ensure students with disabilities get the support they need at school. Labor has also agreed to review the processes related to the National Consistent Collection of Data and the “Students With Disabilities” loading to ensure students are getting appropriate levels of support.
The Greens have committed more generally to a “well-funded world-class education system”.
Inclusion Education Initiatives
The Coalition has not made any specific commitment to inclusive education or education of students with disabilities more generally, while Labor and the Greens have announcement support for inclusive education reform and announced specific initiatives.
Labor has committed the development of a National Inclusive Education Strategy in collaboration with the States and Territories to meet Australia’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Greens have also committed to inclusive education in its policy paper called “An Accessible Australia: Our plan for a more inclusive Australia”, where they promise to “champion inclusive education” and “support schools to develop inclusive education practices in line with existing human rights”. The Greens policy also references the Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities as well as General Comment No.4 on the Right to Inclusive Education.
Labor has further committed to:
- a proposal for new Initial Teacher Education Standards with emphasis on inclusive education and supporting students with disabilities;
- ongoing professional development for teachers and principals and increased training and support for learning support staff to ensure that they are contributing effectively to learning outcomes of students with disabilities, including the creation of Australian Professional Standards for learning support staff; and
- a National Evidence Institute for Schools, which will also conduct a “review of the efficacy and most effective use of learning support staff, including guidance for principals and schools on how learning support staff can be best utilised in our classrooms”.
The Greens have also committed to:
- develop a new national standard of inclusive education training in alignment with professional standards for teachers and world’s best practice; and
- give all pre-service and in-service teachers and principals the opportunity to train, retrain and be regularly upskilled in inclusive education practices, by providing a pool of $100m per year for four years to universities for inclusive education upskilling.
We note that while the Coalition has also promised a national evidence institute, it has not allocated funds for it.
Election Policy Documents and Announcements
Labor:
“Support for Students With Disability”
Greens:
“An Accessible Australia: Our plan for a more inclusive Australia”
Easy Read: “An Accessible Australia: Our plan for a more inclusive Australia”
We hope this guide is helpful. While we have sought to cover all relevant policy announcements, if you think that we have missed something please contact us.