The problem

Schools across Australia are seeing unprecedented growth in students identified with disability — at the same time as Thriving Kids shifts disability support from the NDIS into education systems.

Yet the Disability Standards for Education 2005 never mention the words “Individual Education Plan.” Schools already record adjustments under NCCD — the documentation exists, for the government. But there is no legal requirement to bring those adjustments into a plan made with the family, no defined timeframe — only an undefined “reasonable time” — and no obligation to include a child’s treating therapists, who may be consulted but don’t have to be.

The result is a postcode lottery. A family moving their child between two government schools has no guarantee the new school will follow the same IEP process, take 4 weeks rather than 9 months, include their therapists, or provide the same information. Goodwill is the only safeguard, and goodwill is not a system.

South Australia’s Inclusive Education Amendment Act 2025 — passed in 2025, with staged commencement from 2026 — proves reform is possible. But it doesn’t mandate IEPs, therapist inclusion, or timeframes. A child in WA shouldn’t have fewer protections than a child in SA. This needs national clarity, and it needs to happen before Thriving Kids adds new responsibilities to schools already struggling to interpret ambiguous law.

We call on the Australian Government to:

1. Amend the Disability Standards for Education 2005 to explicitly require:

• IEPs named and mandated for all students identified with disability, developed within 4–6 weeks of the start of the school year, enrolment, or identification of functional need

• External support professionals (therapists, specialists, service providers) explicitly included in IEP planning and decision-making — and unable to be excluded from IEP meetings

• Family transparency: clear, step-by-step IEP process information provided at enrolment or identification, including how to escalate concerns, published on every school’s website, and available at every transition point

• Shared responsibility: schools to designate an inclusion support contact, provide adequate meeting time for disability-related discussion, and plan deliberate transitions; families to communicate therapist and support changes and stay engaged in the process

• Planned transitions at every stage — daycare to primary, primary to secondary, secondary to post-school — with documentation shared in advance, additional familiarisation time, and transition goals built into each IEP

2. Resource implementation across the sector:Standardised IEP templates, professional development for school staff, family-friendly process guides, guidance on meeting time allocation, and transition planning templates — so schools aren’t handed new obligations without the tools to meet them.

3. Commission a national audit and invest where it’s needed: An independent, sector-wide audit of IEP implementation, timeframe compliance, professional inclusion, family engagement, workforce readiness, and transition quality — generating findings for targeted investment in training, staffing and resources.

Why sign

This isn’t about blaming schools — it’s about replacing interpretation with clarity, uncertainty with consistency, and conflict with transparency. Schools get clear obligations and real resources.

Families get a plan, a timeline, and a seat at the table. Children get consistent support no matter which school they attend.

The adjustments are already happening. The records already exist. We’re asking for one thing - that the plan belongs to the child and their family — by law, not by favour.