Today in Parliament, Abigail passed a motion calling on the government to urgently implement the Audit Office of NSW's recommendations to secure proper funding, support, and inclusive education for students with disability.
Abigail said:
I move:
(1) That this House notes that:
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on 26 September 2024, the Audit Office of NSW published a performance audit report of the NSW Department of Education entitled “Supporting students with disability” which found that:
- the Department has not been adequately implementing its own inclusive education policies and procedures or rectifying longstanding and well-known issues in a timely way, despite being aware of these issues for almost two decades across multiple public reviews and audits, parliamentary inquiries and the recent national Disability Royal Commission;
- the Department is not even aware of how effectively it is meeting the needs of students with disability because it has not consistently monitored outcomes for students with disability and schools’ compliance with legal obligations and inclusive education practices;
- the Department’s criteria for accessing targeted supports for disability has not been updated in over 20 years since 2003, which is continuing to result in the exclusion of students with undiagnosed disability or with diagnosed disabilities that fall outside the outdated criteria including ADHD and dyslexia;
- the Department’s expectations for schools to provide inclusive education are not consistently being realised ‘on the ground’, with the Department having no centralised visibility of school performance in supporting students with disability and complying with the Disability Standards for Education;
- the Department does not regularly use input sought from students, parents/guardians and teachers to understand the experiences of students with disability;
- there are gaps in the Department’s complaints management process, which could be enhanced by providing parents/guardians with independent advice and disability expertise, supporting schools to analyse complaints data and ensuring school complaint handling and other policies are student-centric, accessible, efficient, safe, trauma-informed, and culturally appropriate;
- Aboriginal students with disability are worse off than their non-Aboriginal peers with disability in relation to suspension, expulsion, individual student growth and reported experiences of bullying; and
- students with disability were disproportionately suspended in each year of the audit review period, from 2018 to 2023. Of all the suspensions (385,382) issued over this six-year period (to either primary or secondary students), 58% were issued to a student with disability (223,706); and
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the Auditor-General recommended that by January 2026 the Department of Education should:
- monitor the experiences and outcomes of students with disability at least annually;
- expand the use of NCCD data to support funding allocation in accordance with the needs of students with disability;
- ensure NSW public schools are adequately funded to support students with disability;
- work with stakeholders to enhance guidance and practical support to public schools and families on reasonable adjustments for students with disability; and
- improve the planning and delivery of targeted supports.
(2) That this House expresses its concern at the findings of the Auditor-General.
(3) That this House calls on the Government to take urgent action to address them.
Motion agreed to.
Read the transcript in Hansard here.
22 October 2024