AUSTRALIA’S Disability Discrimination Commissioner has called on the Queensland Government to abandon plans to build new segregated “special schools”, warning the move undermines national commitments to inclusive education and risks entrenching disadvantage for students with disability.
The concerns follow the Queensland Government’s recent State Budget announcement, which included funding for six new special schools across South East Queensland.
The decision has drawn criticism from disability advocates, particularly in light of Queensland’s recent endorsement – alongside the Australian Government and all other states and territories – of the National Roadmap for Inclusive Education.
The roadmap outlines a reform pathway aimed at ensuring students with disability can access education on an equal basis with others, primarily within mainstream schools supported by appropriate expertise, staffing and infrastructure.
Disability Discrimination Commissioner Rosemary Kayess said the proposed investment in segregated schooling was inconsistent with both the roadmap and key recommendations of the Disability Royal Commission.
“The investment to build new segregated schools goes directly against the Queensland Government’s commitment to inclusive education,” Commissioner Kayess said.
She said there was strong evidence that inclusive education delivers better academic outcomes, reduces social exclusion and improves long-term employment prospects for people with disability.
“Inclusive education also reduces the risk of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation experienced by people with disability,” she said.
Commissioner Kayess argued the funding allocated for new special schools could instead be used to strengthen inclusion across Queensland’s mainstream education system.
“For the cost of the six new segregated schools the Government is proposing to build, it could invest in mainstream schools across the state so they have the staff and facilities required to support all students,” she said.
She warned that continued reliance on segregated education models risks limiting life opportunities for students with disability.
“Segregated schooling leads to segregated lives for many people with disability, and this is unacceptable,” she said.
Commissioner Kayess has written to the Queensland Premier and the Minister for Education raising her concerns and urging the government to reconsider its approach.
“If Queensland is serious about fulfilling the right to education on an equal basis with others, it should be phasing out special schools and investing instead in inclusive education,” she said.
The Queensland Government has not yet publicly responded to the Commissioner’s comments.
