A landmark parliamentary inquiry chaired by Greens MP Abigail Boyd has today handed down its report into the experiences of children and young people with disability in NSW educational settings. With over 20 findings and 28 recommendations, the report sets out a plan to overhaul NSW's entire education system to ensure that it is genuinely inclusive and accessible for students with disability.
The NSW inquiry was established off the back of the landmark Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, which found that Australia's education systems are failing to deliver inclusive education that protects students with disability from violence, abuse and neglect.
As stated by Abigail Boyd, Committee Chair and Greens NSW MP and spokesperson for disability rights and inclusion:
"Throughout the course of this inquiry, we heard harrowing evidence from children and young people with disability, their families, educators and representatives about how deeply flawed and ableist our education system is. We heard story after story of children with disability being outright refused entry to mainstream schools, suspended and expelled at alarming rates, subjected to cruel restrictive practices and being denied critical reasonable adjustments. I was shocked to hear of so many children experiencing outright discrimination, abuse and neglect.
"It is clear that the current education system in NSW is not working for people with disability and the Department of Education has not been able to resolve the countless disputes over enrolments, adjustments and exclusions. Our report calls for an independent body to be established not just to resolve these disputes as they arise, but as an advocate for children with disability. Every child has the right to quality accessible education.
"On the other hand, the committee also heard evidence of just how valuable the inclusion of people with disability in mainstream education settings is for all children, not just children with disability, and for their families and educators. If we're to turn around the persistent discrimination and ableism faced by people with disability in all aspects of our society, we need to start with eliminating it in our schools and teaching inclusion as early as possible.
"Our inquiry heard from countless teachers and support staff about how chronically under-resourced and under-valued our public education system has become after over a decade of neglect by the former Coalition Government. Our report acknowledges that we can't possibly begin to imagine a world where students with disability can engage in meaningful inclusive education without significantly investing in a high-quality public education system.
"An overwhelming number of witnesses articulated the premise of segregated education being a "false choice" - when presented with the option of either a mainstream setting that is completely inaccessible, not inclusive and oftentimes unsafe, or a segregated setting, families are unable to make a real choice. Students with disability are increasingly being channelled into segregated schools and classes because our mainstream education system is not equipped to provide the necessary supports and resources that children with disability need. That's why our inquiry recommends an overhaul of our current education system and a shift to one which focuses on the rights of the child with disability rather than the interests of the school, to enable more students with disability to be enrolled in mainstream, inclusive school settings.
"Last month the NSW Labor Government gave a jarringly lacklustre response to the Disability Royal Commission's recommendations for inclusive education, which the disability community has described as an utter betrayal. With the release of this report, Labor is once again faced with the opportunity to show the disability community they are serious about improving the lives of people with disability and ensuring meaningful inclusive education. I look forward to them accepting our recommendations in full in due course."
The full report can be found at this link.
