PETITION TO PARLIAMENT

Protecting Children with Disability Through Disability-Informed In-School Support Programs and Disability-Capable OSHC

To the Honourable Members of the Parliament of Australia,

We, the undersigned, respectfully petition the Parliament of Australia to address systemic discrimination and safeguarding failures affecting children with disability in education and Out of School Hours Care (OSHC/OOSH).

In NSW public schools, students with disability accounted for 58% of all suspensions issued between 2018 and 2023, and more than half were suspended multiple times within the same school year. These figures demonstrate the urgent need for disability-informed alternatives that address unmet needs rather than repeated exclusion.

Children with disability continue to be suspended from school and excluded from OSHC because of behaviours that are often a direct manifestation of disability. Without safe, structured alternatives, children face disrupted education and increased distress, while families experience significant emotional, social and financial hardship.

We therefore call on Parliament to:

 

Mandate and fund disability-informed in-school support programs.
Establish and fund disability-specific or disability-capable OSHC services.
Recognise disability-related behaviours as communication of unmet need, not misconduct.
Ensure access to appropriately trained disability-informed staff.
Treat exclusion without appropriate alternatives as a safeguarding failure.
Ensure children with disability have the same rights to education, care, safety and inclusion as every other child.

Accountability, Inclusion and the Proper Role of In-School Support

An in-school support program should provide a supervised, disability-informed environment where students remain safely at school, receive appropriate behavioural and emotional support, and continue learning wherever possible. It is a short-term support measure, not a substitute for inclusion.

Many behaviours that result in suspension—including emotional dysregulation, withdrawal and distress—reflect unmet disability-related needs rather than wilful misconduct. Appropriate adjustments and early intervention can often prevent or safely de-escalate these situations.

Before removing a student from learning, schools should demonstrate that:

reasonable adjustments have been identified, implemented and reviewed;
preventative and early intervention strategies have been provided;
staff have received disability-informed and trauma-informed training;
environmental and curriculum barriers have been addressed;
parents and carers have been consulted; and
allied health advice has been sought where appropriate.

Without these safeguards, in-school support risks becoming exclusion under another name.

Repeated or prolonged removal from learning should trigger a mandatory review of reasonable adjustments, resourcing, staff capability, environmental barriers and the adequacy of supports.

When a student with disability is repeatedly removed from learning, the question should not be:

“What is wrong with the child?”

It should be:

“What is the system failing to provide?”

The appropriate response is support, not punishment.

Ensuring Equal Access for Students with Reduced Attendance

Where a child with disability is unable to access a full school day because of disability-related needs, governments and education systems must ensure that neither the child nor their family is disadvantaged.

Reduced attendance must never become a substitute for reasonable adjustments or adequate educational support. Disability-informed supports should be available during the remaining hours, including educational support, disability-capable OSHC and other reasonable supports that enable continued learning, community participation and, where possible, parents’ and carers’ ongoing employment.

A child’s reduced attendance must never result in reduced access to education, care, safety, inclusion or family participation in work and community life.

We respectfully call on the Parliament of Australia to implement these reforms so that no child is denied their right to education, safety and inclusion because of disability.