Disability discrimination commissioner calls on Queensland to scrap plan for new special schools

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a day ago

Australia's disability discrimination commissioner wants Queensland to scrap plans to build more special schools, but the state government says there has been an increased demand for them.
Commissioner Rosemary Kayess said she was "disappointed" by the Queensland government's announcement of six new special schools.
The prominent human rights lawyer told the ABC she had been speaking to education ministers across the country about the development of a national road map to inclusive education.
The road map was a recommendation from the disability royal commission's final report handed down in 2023 and had been agreed to "in principle" by all levels of governments last year.
Commissioner Kayess said it would essentially be a move away from "segregating kids" and "transform mainstream education so all kids can go to school together".
Commissioner Kayess has written to Premier David Crisafulli and Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek to express her "deep concerns" following the announcement in June.
"The Queensland government is locking the state into a failed ableist model of the past which penalises people with disability," she said.
It comes as the teachers in the state's 1,266 public schools are set to strike on Wednesday after protracted enterprise bargaining negotiations with the government.
Mr Langbroek said enrolments at the state's 46 special schools had increased by more than 38 per cent since 2019.
"We cannot ignore the growing demand from parents and carers who need or want to send their child to a special school," he said in a statement.
He said the government had announced its largest investment into special schools as part of its $21.9 billion education budget for 2025-26 to cater for the growth.
Mr Langbroek said the government was committed to providing "world-class education to all children regardless of the school they attend".
"We will continue to provide choice and support for families to help them make the decision that best suits their family's needs," he said.
Queensland Association of Special Education Leaders president Andrew Thompson said the new schools would be near mainstream schools to allow for strong relationships to be formed between the two.
Mr Thompson's organisation represents almost 700 members who work in special education across special, primary and secondary schools.
He said he believed mainstream schools struggled to accommodate for students with a disability due to a workforce shortage and a lack of expertise taught at university.
Mr Thompson said he supported "parents being able to make a choice of either a mainstream school or a special school".
Inclusive Educators Australia's (IEA) chairperson, Loren Swancutt, said the government should be investing in supporting "regular teachers in regular schools" working to include students with a disability in their classrooms.
"This investment is not just a policy misstep, it is a profound moral and human rights failure," the Queensland secondary educator said.
"Segregating students based on disability sends a damaging message that some children do not belong in their local schools or communities."
Ms Swancutt said IEA represented more than 10,000 educators across the country committed to "building genuinely inclusive schools".
She said the state had "nation-leading and award-winning inclusive education policy".
"But unfortunately, we have not seen the commitment and follow-through," Ms Swancutt said.
Ms Swancutt, who has worked in education for 15 years, said she wanted "actual commitment" from all levels of government to develop and fulfil the national road map.
The federal education department said all governments supported the disability royal commission's vision for more accessible and inclusive education for students with disability.
"To ensure accountability, all governments have agreed to biannual reporting to the Disability Reform Ministerial Council and the community on implementation of recommendations," the spokesperson said.
"The first report is expected within coming weeks."
The department said discussions to support the development of policy responses to the royal commission, including the design of the national road map, "have commenced and regular officials-level meetings are ongoing".
"It is anticipated that advice for education ministers will be prepared in late 2025 and that people with lived experience of disability and other stakeholders will be a key part of the development of the road map and policy responses," the department spokesperson said.
Commissioner Kayess said there had been a lot of focus on the division amongst the disability royal commissioners, who were unable to reach a consensus on the future of special schools in the final report.
"What we're forgetting is the unanimous position that all commissioners held that there needs to be a transformation of our mainstream education system to make it inclusive," Commissioner Kayess said.
"The royal commission spoke about the well-oiled pathway from special schools to segregated employment, and that really is not a bright future for those kids."