Principals association says there is not enough funding or resources to expect schools to cope with the increase in the number of students with disabilities

A Senate inquiry has heard that teachers cannot be expected to properly cater for children with disabilities given the “significant increase” in the number of special needs students in Australian primary schools without any increase in funding.

The Australian Primary Principals Association said teachers were more likely to have more children with serious medical conditions in their classrooms than 20 years ago as a result of government policies of inclusion, and because there was a higher incidence of such children in the general population.

While the association said in its submission to the Senate inquiry into students with disabilities that it strongly supported students with disabilities being in mainstream schools, there was not enough funding or resources to expect schools to cope.

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“If the resources known to be required are not available and provided, it is an unrealistic community expectation that primary teachers and schools can adequately meet the full needs of children with disabilities,” its submission said.



The latest available figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show 8.5% of all children aged 5-20 years had a disability in 2012, and of these, 76.6% were attending mainstream schools. Just over 23.3% of children with a profound disability attending school attended a special school, the ABS data shows.

The National Independent Special Schools Association said if current funding levels were maintained, there would be no improvement in the quality of support for those children with special needs in schools, and many independent special schools would no longer be able to exist.

They gave the example from a small, regional independent special school with a student who needed supervision at all times due to her profound intellectual disabilities, including autism and severe epilepsy. This additional cost to the school was approximately $45,386 a year.

“Many independent special schools have waiting lists for students to attend their schools, their submission said.

“While every child can enrol in their local government school, many families report to us that they are dissatisfied with the level of provision because their children are either given insufficient teacher aide support in mainstream, or are grouped together with children with a broad range of special needs in multi-categorical special classes or schools, where there is a lack of specific expertise and provision.”



Last week, the principal of a Canberra public school was sacked after an investigation found a boy with special needs was locked inside a small metal enclosure in an attempt to calm him down.

In its submission to the inquiry, Children with Disability Australia said parents had reported their children had been restrained because of their difficult behaviours, including a boy who was belted into a chair that was bolted to the ground.

Another parent said their son was tied down with rope to a chair while in childcare because he would not sit still during story time.

A lack of teacher expertise in caring for such students meant interventions used for students with disability were often not evidence based, Children with Disability Australia said.

“The seclusion of students with disability is often justified as ‘behaviour management’ and it is also often reported to [us] that it is used as a punishment,” their submission said.

The inquiry is examining the impact on students and families of inadequate levels of support for children with disabilities in the school system. It is expected to hand down its report in December.