Every child has the right to a safe, inclusive, and accessible education—especially those most at risk.

Ashlyn’s Law is a proposed legislative reform to ensure that children with complex mental health conditions, neurodivergent diagnoses (such as autism), and high-risk profiles are not denied access to education due to a lack of capacity, funding, or adequate support systems in Western Australia’s school system.

This law is named after Ashlyn, a 14-year-old girl diagnosed with Level 2 Autism, severe anxiety, depression, and a history of self-harm and suicide risk. Ashlyn has been repeatedly denied meaningful and sustainable support from her local high school, despite being legally entitled to an education.

With no viable school placements available and specialist alternative programs at full capacity, Ashlyn’s safety and future have been compromised—forcing her mother to leave full-time work to supervise her education through distance learning as a last resort. This is not sustainable, safe, or acceptable.

Ashlyn’s case is not isolated it is a symptom of a broken system that routinely fails our most vulnerable students. No parent should be forced to choose between their child’s safety and survival, and their ability to work or provide for their family.

Ashlyn’s Law will:

✔️Guarantee school placement for any child with a diagnosed disability or mental health condition, even when mainstream schools are at capacity.
✔️Mandate the Department of Education to provide emergency funding and crisis support placements when schools cannot safely support high-risk students.
✔️Establish a rapid response team within the Department to intervene and coordinate care, safety plans, and school-based support within a strict time frame.
✔️Require schools to create and implement individualised safety and inclusion plans for students at risk of harm or absconding.
✔️Introduce an oversight mechanism or ombudsman-led review process for families failed by multiple institutions.

Ashlyn’s Law aims to close the deadly gap between policy and practice, rights and reality.

We are calling on the Western Australian Government to urgently introduce and pass this law to protect children like Ashlyn before more families are left in crisis and more lives are placed at risk.