The Auditor-General has today handed down a scathing performance audit report, Supporting students with disability, which exposes a decades-long failure to adequately fund and deliver targeted supports, monitor school practice and track outcomes for students with disability.
The Auditor-General's report has been described as damning by Greens NSW MP Abigail Boyd, who chaired the recent parliamentary inquiry into the Experiences of children and young people with disability in NSW educational settings. The report from that inquiry was tabled just last month, and reinforces the Auditor-General's findings that children with disability and their families are seeing no real improvement in their experiences within NSW's education system, despite stated government policies and commitments.
The Auditor General's report found the Department of Education failed to implement their own inclusive education policies and procedures, monitor outcomes and ensure targeted supports for students with disability, despite being aware of these gaps for almost two decades.
It also found serious gaps in the Department's complaints management process which is neither student-centric nor accessible, and called for independent advice and disability expertise to be provided to parents and guardians of students with disability.
As stated by Abigail Boyd, Greens NSW MP and Spokesperson for disability rights and inclusion:
"The message coming through in this and previous reports is loud and clear - when it comes to disability rights and inclusion, the NSW Government is all words and no action.
"The NSW Department of Education has knowingly and persistently underfunded measures that would deliver greater inclusion for people with disability, and then chosen not to measure what they know will be the harmful outcomes of their decisions. This is a shocking abrogation of responsibility, and cannot stand.
"With such limited oversight of our education system, it's no wonder that students with disability continue to experience exclusion, discrimination and neglect in our schools. The latest suspension data from the Department reveals that year on year, students with disability continue to make up half of all suspensions.
"In light of this and multiple other audit reports, parliamentary inquiries and the Disability Royal Commission, it is clear that the Department is unable to oversee itself and its performance under its legal obligations under anti-discrimination legislation.
"We can no longer leave the Department to its own devices. We need an independent oversight body for children with disability in our education system - as unanimously recommended by all members in the recent multi-partisan parliamentary inquiry report - with the primary purpose of advocating for students with disability and their families at its core, with the ability to oversee all issues from enrolments and adjustments to exclusionary discipline and allegations of discrimination.
"The NSW Government must commit to implementing in full all recommendations of this report, our parliamentary inquiry, and the Disability Royal Commission. Anything less than this will constitute a tragic failure of leadership and serve to perpetuate the cycle of disadvantage experienced by disabled people in this state."
