Education Directorate disability appraisal processes 'distressing' for families

The ACT requires a medical diagnosis before being accepted into a disability education program, but the report found this placed an administrative and financial burden on families.

"Schools and stakeholders reported that families may face long wait times, and significant expense, to access the relevant medical specialists," the report said.

"The requirement for medical diagnosis may also risk inequity between more and less socio-economically advantaged students, because more advantaged families may have better access to timely diagnosis."

The report on support for students with disability in ACT public schools found the appraisal process could be "distressing" for families because it focuses on what students cannot do, rather than on adjustments that can be provided.

School psychologists are required to confirm a students eligibility for disability education programs, an administrative burden which took them away from providing direct services.

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The audit found the process used to assess a student's needs, known as the student centred appraisal of need, does not align with the categories in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD).

After going through the appraisal, the amount of funding allocated was unclear because it was not attached to individual students.

The audit found information provided by the directorate lacked explicit detail on on students' rights and schools obligations under the disability standards for education and online information was not presented in a clear, logical format.

While the proportion of students meeting the national criteria for disability funding was climbing, a smaller proportion of ACT public students were accepted into disability education programs.

In 2022, 20 per cent of ACT school students across government and non-government schools (about 10,000 students) were receiving adjustments because of disability but only 6 per cent of public school students (about 3000) met the ACT student disability criteria in 2023.

The report recommended more paid training and planning time for learning support assistants.

In its written response, the Education Directorate welcomed the audit report and said it was working on improvements to disability education: "The development of the draft Inclusive Education Strategy demonstrates the Directorate's commitment to strengthen inclusive practice to ensure students with disability can access and participate in education on the same basis as their peers."

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