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Australian Education Union
Submission
to the
Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and
Exploitation of People with Disability
January 2020
Correna Haythorpe Australian Education Union
Federal President Ground Floor, 120 Clarendon Street
Southbank Vic 3 006
Susan Hopgood PO Box 1158
Federal Secretary South Melbourne Vic 3205
Telephone: +61 (0)3 9693 1800 Facsimile: +61 (0)3 9693 1805 Web: www.aeufederal.org.au E-mail: aeu@aeufederal.org. au
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Australian Education Union
Submission to the
Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and
Exploitation of People with Disability
Introduction
The Australian Education Union (AEU) represents more than 189,000 members employed in public primary, secondary and special schools and the early childhood, TAFE and adult education sectors as teachers, educational leaders, education assistants or support staff across Australia.
The AEU believes in the fundamental importance of a fully resourced public education system through a needs-based, sector-blind model that incorporates the full Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) and provides the basis for fairness and equality of opportunity in education and welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Royal Commission. In this submission we draw on the policy of AEU Branches and Associated Bodies and on the views of our membership. With nearly 70% of students with disabilities enrolled in public schools and 86% of all students with disability being educated in mainstream schools 1 the AEU wishes to emphasise the huge and ongoing contribution that our members make in the education of students with disability, in an under resourced system where workload pressures are immense.
A well-resourced public education system that values diversity, understands social and cognitive development, engages all learners through inclusive processes and is responsive to fundamental human needs, has the potential to develop actively engaged, resilient and connected individuals who lead lives as productive members ofthe wider community. The AEU affirms that Australia’s public education system must value and provide a range of services, programs and educational settings to ensure the inclusion of all students.
Resourcing for students with disability is by its very nature intensive. This resourcing must continue to ensure adherence to philosophies of equity, social justice and inclusivity. Despite numerous official reports and State and Commonwealth government reviews over the past two decades identifying serious deficiencies in the resourcing ofthe education of young Australians with disability, and recent changes to funding and loading arrangements, there has been little progress in this regard. While governments have talked about the problem and made changes to funding and associated loadings, many thousands of children with disability have started and finished primary school without seeing any improvement in the resources provided by governments to them.
1 Education Council, 2016 Emergent data on students in Australian Schools receiving adjustments for disability, retrieved from https:ljwww.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/principals/health/ED17 0046%20SCH%20NCCD%20Repo rt%202017 ACC%20%281 %29. pdf
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Inclusion
The UNESCO Policy Guidelines on Inclusion in Education states:
“As an overall principle, [inclusion] should guide all education policies and practices, starting from the fact that education is a basic human right and the foundation for ajust and equal society … Looking at education through an inclusive lens implies a shift from seeing the child as the problem to seeing the education system as the problem. “2
The AEU is supportive of this statement and of greater inclusion of students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms when this inclusion is in the educational best interests of the students. However it is essential that the relevant professionals (including and primarily) classroom teachers have been appropriately trained to work with students with disabilities and have access to ongoing training and professional development. It is also essential that there is an adequate allocation of additional teacher resource and/ or education support staff hours to support students.
Federal, State and Territory governments have a responsibility to ensure the full resourcing of school systems to allow the increased use of appropriate settings for students with disabilities within mainstream schools, and have responsibility for devising appropriate policy settings to ensure that this takes place. The AEU strongly emphasizes the value of special schools and special school teachers and support staff and reiterates the absolute importance of Governments’ providing resources and supportive policy for special schools in addition to developing support services and settings to help students with disability in mainstream schools.
The AEU believes that students with disability should be enrolled in the most appropriate setting for each individual student under a process which: ■ ensures the most appropriate educational enrolment ofthe student; ■ is cognisant ofthe professional judgement of teachers, support staff, education leaders and other professionals; ■ involves students, parents and carers and acknowledges their preferences; and ■ gives due consideration to the needs of all students in any educational setting.3
2 UNESCO, Policy Guidelines on Inclusion in Education, 2009, p. 8, 14 3 Queensland Teachers Union, The education ofstudents with a disability, 2019, pl
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Disability Standards for Education and Reasonable Adjustments
The Australian public schooling system has a long history of providing a high quality education for all students, and it is accepted that a mainstream school setting provides the broadest and richest range of social and academic opportunities. However, this implies an assumption that a mainstream school will always be the best schooling option for all students, regardless oftheir circumstances. For most students, most ofthe time, this assumption holds true; mainstream schools and classes provide the optimal learning context for the majority. However, for a small but significant minority of students specialised settings with specialised staff supported by ongoing professional learning and sufficient targeted resourcing is required and is in the best interests ofthe child.
Inclusion in education was enshrined in the Disability Standards for Education 2005, which were formulated under the Disability Discrimination Act and state that “a person with disability is able to seek admission to, or apply for enrolment in an institution on the same basis a prospective student without a disability.” On the issue ofreasonable adjustments the standards state that:
“An adjustment is reasonable ifit achieves this purpose while taking into account the student’s learning needs and balancing the interests ofall parties affected, including those ofthe student with disability, the education provider, staffand other students.” 4
The standards then go on to state that:
“Education providers are required only to make reasonable adjustments. Schools can draw upon a broad range ofresources to provide reasonable adjustments - including resources, materials and programs that may be in the form oftargeted funding through a disability program, ongoing school funding or a redirection ofgeneral school resources to address the needs ofstudents with disability. Other options include support through student services and allied health staff, specialist and targeted curriculum material and use ofexpertise within the school or network. “5
“The Standards do not require changes to be made ifthis would impose unjustifiable hardship on the education provider. All relevant circumstances are to be taken into account when assessing unjustifiable hardship including: ■ benefit or detriment to any persons concerned ■ disability ofthe person ■ financial circumstances ofthe education provider. “6
4 Australian Government, Department of Education and Training, Disability Standards for Education 2005, p.2. retrieved from https://docs.education.gov.au/node/35943 5 Ibid., p2 6 Ibid., p2
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The AEU has utilised the definition of a reasonable adjustment and that of unjustifiable hardship as defined above by the Disability Standards for Education 2005 as part of our policy framework.
System Quality and Equity
The relationship between system quality and equity has also been found in other contexts and across numerous international assessment measures over 20 years.7 This relationship is even more important in the current context of resourcing for the education of students with disability. It is difficult to examine educational equity without also examining how resources are distributed between schools and systems with varying levels of need and varying capacities to effectively address those needs.
As recommended by the Gonski 2011 Review ofFundingfor Schooling, a rebalancing of school funding, particularly away from the Commonwealth’s arbitrarily applied funding cap of 20% of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) for public schools, is required to address the stark imbalance that Australia’s internationally unique system of school funding has fostered. 8
The Commonwealth Department ofEducation describes the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) as “an estimate of how much total public funding a school needs to meet the educational needs of its students, based on recommendations ofthe 2011 Gonski Review of Funding for Schooling.“9 However, as a result ofthe 2017 Amendment to the Education Act, and the subsequent National School Reform Agreements (NSRAs) the Commonwealth signed with states and territories from late 2018 onwards, the ACT is now the only jurisdiction where funding will reach 100% of SRS for public schools by 2023.
The Commonwealth Government has capped its funding ofpublic schools at an arbitrary 20% of SRS by 2023. All states and territories except the NT are currently below 20% and will take the full five years from 2018 to 2023 to reach the 20% cap.
This means that 99% of public schools in Australia will not reach 100% of SRS, the minimum required resource standard by 2023.
A strong, fully funded and inclusive public education system is the only guarantee that all Australian school students are able to access the quality of education they deserve and require. In order for governments to implement effective educational reforms for students with disability they must implement changes at a system level rather than isolating individual schools and teachers. Such changes must be supported by an allocation of not less than 100% ofthe
7 Mullis, I., Martin, M. & Loveless, T. (2016), 20 Years of TIMSS. International Trends in Mathematics and Science
Achievement, Curriculum and Instruction, TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center. Retrieved from
http://timssandpirls.bc.edu/timss2015/international-results/timss2015/wp-content/uploads/2016/T15-20-years of-TIMSS.pdf 8 Gonski et al (2011), Review of Funding for Schooling Final Report. DEEWR. 9 Australian Government, Department of Education and Training, What is the Schooling resource Standard and How Does it Work?, retrieved from https://www.education.gov.au/what-schooling-resource-standard-and-how does-it-work
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Schooling Resource Standard and appropriate loadings for every student, but particularly the loading for students with disability, as a matter ofurgency.
Jurisdictional Differences in Enrolment Practices
All schools must have the resources and appropriately trained and qualified staff available to provide the most inclusive education possible to all students. Under current funding arrangements public schools in every State and Territory in Australia, barring the Australian Capital Territory, are denied access to the necessary funding and support for those students who require the significant levels of adjustment.
In addition, the way that the enrolment of students with disability in mainstream schools is managed varies significantly across jurisdictions, which creates an uneven playing field between States and Territories. This can exacerbate significant resource issues for already under funded public schools and potential health and safety risks for teachers and support staff.
For example, in Victoria, parents are entitled to enrol their child in their local mainstream public school regardless ofwhether the school has been provided with the resources to meet the academic, welfare, or physical needs ofthat child. 10 While schools can suggest alternative arrangements ifthey form the view that they cannot meet the needs ofthe child, parents can ultimately insist on enrolment at that school. Although Victorian legislation provides for the Minister to refuse enrolment in a public school where he or she determines that the safety ofthe student or other students in the school cannot be ensured, 11 such orders are rarely, if ever, enacted. The AEU has received feedback from members that while they recognize and appreciate the right for a child to attend their local public school, there are circumstances where the risk to the student seeking enrolment and other students in the school cannot be properly managed with the resources available. In these circumstances, where a parent insists on enrolling their child, it can also lead to students with disability being placed in classrooms where teachers and support staff do not have the required resources to meet the student’s academic, developmental, or welfare needs, and can potentially result in teachers and education support staff being at risk of assault from students whose disabilities can manifest violently.
By contrast, in New South Wales public schools a comprehensive risk assessment is completed when a student with a history of violence is seeking enrolment to determine ifthe school can meet the needs ofthe student and the school Principal can then make a recommendation on the basis ofthat risk assessment that could lead to either the provision of increased resources or a change of setting for the student.
The AEU believes that the New South Wales approach represents good practice and that a risk based approach to enrolments where students have a history of violence against either staff or
10 Victorian EDUCATION AND TRAINING REFORM ACT 2006 - SECT 2.2.13
11 Victorian EDUCATION AND TRAINING REFORM ACT 2006 - SECT 2.2.17
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other students, where either additional resources or an alternative setting is provided based on the identified risk level, is a model that could be considered across the country.
The professional judgement ofteachers, support staff, education leaders and other school-based professionals should play a significant role in both the enrolment and associated processes, and their professional judgements should not be ignored. They should not be the subject of direction from regional or central officers based on pressure from external sources. 12
We have found examples of good practice in terms of inclusion, where special classes and specialist teachers are resourced in units within mainstream schools, an exemplar of the “inclusion in the setting” approach. In South Australia, the move to the Inclusive Education Support Program (IESP) in 2019 now has direct links to the NCCD data, and directs base funding accordingly. At the levels of least need decisions can be made at the site level to allocate with a reduction in the requirement of an official diagnosis. This acknowledgement of professional judgement is welcomed.
However, the South Australian Branch ofthe AEU has also reported that some unintended barriers have resulted from this approach. The requirements to request additional funding in South Australia are flawed currently with a sense among teachers that they need to ‘match a set formulae’ in order to get the resources required. This requires very high levels ofknowledge, awareness, experience and determination and a common outcome is that students are not getting the funding they need.
The AEU believes that this Royal Commission provides an opportunity for a national discussion based on examples of good practice as found across jurisdictions and in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.
The inherent tension between an under resourced total inclusion model and Workplace
Health and Safety
As a result ofthe gains ofthe early disability rights movement in the 1970s the understanding of disability issues in Australia has shifted from one of welfare to one of rights, and there have been significant changes in the articulation of rights for persons with disability and the corresponding obligations of service providers. In education, this change has been experienced in the move away from segregation and towards the total inclusion model. This model, when adhered to in schools and classrooms where teachers have not received adequate training and where the necessary support and resources are not available, can lead to significant workplace health and safety risks for teachers and support staff, particularly in relation to managing challenging behavior.
12 QTU The education of students with a disability pl
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Students with disability have the same human right to a quality education as all other students and Governments are responsible for providing the funding and resources to ensure the legislated rights of students with disability can be met. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 both seek to provide citizens with essential protections in all aspects of the lives of people with disabilities. However, for education systems there is an inherent conflict between the rights set out in the CRPD and the Disability Discrimination Act and the requirement that employers eliminate risks to the health and safety of their workers as far as is reasonably practicable as detailed in the Workplace Health and Safety Act 2011.
How Funding Changes have Impacted on Students with Disability
The original 2011 Review ofFundingfor Schooling identified disability as one ofthe key factors of disadvantage affecting school attainment and achievement, alongside socioeconomic status, being from an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background, and low English language proficiency and made particular note that many students lived with multiple and intersecting forms of disadvantage. 13 The report made a key recommendation that resourcing for students with disability be “set according to the level of reasonable educational adjustment required to allow the student to participate in schooling on the same basis as students without disability.” 14 Additional targeted resources were viewed by the review panel as being a basic matter of equity that will keep more students in schools longer and raise skill levels and ultimately lift workforce participation of persons with disability.
The total funding denied to public schools for all students since the implementation of the Australian Education Amendment Act 2017 has been well documented, and as outlined above, under current Commonwealth Government funding arrangements, 99% of public schools in Australia will not reach 100% ofthe SRS.
In addition to these cuts which impact on all public schools, students with disability have been subject to further cuts through the recent changes to the categories of assistance in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The changes have seen the introduction of an additional NCCD category -“support within quality differentiated teaching practice” which recognises when a student has disability but offers no additional resource to allow schools to support them.
13 Gonski et al , Op. Cit p. 111 14 Gonski et al, Op. Cit p. 185
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Almost 70% of students with disabilities attend public schools15 , and these schools work extremely hard to ensure that issues such as access, specialist support, and health and wellbeing are delivered so that students can learn in a safe environment. However, the stark reality is that this cannot be achieved without adequate funding, and while the number of students categorised as having disability continues to grow, the total and per student amounts of available funding are in decline - in the 2018 State ofOur Schools Survey 88% of over 650 Principals surveyed agreed that there are students with disability at their school who they have to assist using funds from other areas oftheir budget because they are ineligible for targeted government funding or the amount the school receives is inadequate. 16
The publication ofthe NCCD has exposed the huge difference between the numbers of students that schools currently are funded to support and the number they actually have to provide assistance to. In the AEU’ s 2018 State ofour Schools survey of thousands of principals and teachers across Australia, nearly four in five (81 % ) ofpublic school principals said that they do not have sufficient resources to cater for students with disability and nearly nine in ten (88%) said that they divert funds from other areas to assist students with disability. 17
At the time that the NCCD adjustment levels were introduced former Education Minister Simon Birmingham said that the increase in the number of funded students through the SWD loading was projected to increase from around 212,000 to 470,000 in 2018. 18 According to the Education Council’s report on the NCCD, the total number is substantially higher, at 724,624 students funded through SWD loading in 2018. However, the overall increase in the number of students masks a substantial reduction ofboth the overall level of funding available and the amount of loading each student is eligible for.
Instead of a flat additional loading for each student with disability, there is now a level of funding (set out in the Australian Education Regulation19) for each of the three highest levels of adjustment that students with disability are judged to be receiving in the NCCD: supplementary, substantial and extensive. In addition to this, the NCCD captures a fourth level of support, defined by the government as “support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice”, which the Commonwealth states “means a student requires monitoring and support from the teacher and school staff; for example personalised learning” before going on to explain “but this can be done without the need for additional funding.” 20 This begs the question of how increased monitoring and support and personalised learning, all ofwhich require an intensive amount of teacher resource, can be as breezily dismissed as not needing to be funded in any way?
15 Education Council, 2016 Emergent data on students in Australian Schools receiving adjustments for disability, retrieved from https:ljwww.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/principals/health/ED17 0046%20SCH%20N CCD%20Repo rt%202017 ACC%20%281 %29. pdf 16 AEU (2018), State of Our Schools Survey 17 AEU (2018), State of Our Schools Survey
18 Simon Birmingham, Minister of Education (June 21, 2017), Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Commonwealth of
Australia: House of Representatives. Col. 4596
19 https://www.legislation.gov .au/Details/F2017L01501 20 Department of Education and Training Fact Sheet, retrieved from https://www.education.gov.au/what govern ment-doi ng-su pport-students-d isa biI ity
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Table 1: 2019 Students with Disability Loading by NCCD Level of Adjustment”!
Base per student amountin Supplementary Substantial Extensive
2019 Primary student $11,343 42% 146% 312% ($4,764) ($16,561) ($35,390) Secondary $14,254 33% 116% 248% student ($4,704) ($16,535) ($35,350)
Note: The table shows the 2019 amounts under the full SRS and does not take into account a school’s transition arrangements to consistent Commonwealth shares of the SRS.
As Table 1 shows, the supplementary and substantial levels of funding are set well below the rate of 186% of the base per student amount for students with disability attending mainstream schools, and 223% for students with disability attending special schools that applied to all students with a disability prior to 2018.77
The 3.56% annual indexation currently applied to the updated NCCD loadings does very little to address the overall denial of funding to students with disabilities that the introduction of incremental “levels of adjustment” represents. The impact of the switch to incremental adjustment levels does not impact on children in all states equally. Data obtained by the AEU through a Freedom of Information Request in 20187 showed that the jurisdictions with the lowest overall attainment levels are the worst hit by the changes to NCCD loadings. Tasmania, has incurred funding cuts for students with disabilities of 46% from $18 million to $9.7 million, and the Northern Territory, has taken a 36% cut from $26.7 million to $17.2 million.”4
To date the Commonwealth government has provided no clear evidence for how it set the funding levels for each of the three levels of adjustment. What is apparent is that funding levels have been set without any obvious relationship to student need, and hence without a coherent fiscal logic.
21 Australian Government, Department of Education and Training, What is the Government doing to support students with Disability? , 2019, retrieved fromhttps://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/what_is_the_government_doing_to_support_students _with_disability_1.pdf
22 Ibid. p1
23 See Appendix 1
24 AEU, Fair Funding Now! Delivering fair and equitable funding to public education (2018), p.25.
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All students deserve the best opportunity to reach their potential - the AEU believes that the Royal Commission is ideally placed to recommend to the Commonwealth to a) reverse cuts to funding for students with disability and b) review funding loading for students with disability to determine the real costs of ensuring that all students with disability can access a high-quality education.
2015 vs. 2018 NCCD Data
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has updated the National Report on Schooling in Australia Data Portal to include the NCCD 2018 Data. 25 This data was used for the first time in 2018 to calculate the Commonwealth funding entitlement (SWD loading) for schools educating students with disability. The data shows that from 2015 to 2018 the total percentage of students with disability attending Public Schools increased from 19.4% of all public school students to 19.7%.
As shown in figures 1 and 2 below, the largest increase was in the Quality Differentiated Teaching Practice category of support, which under the new loadings attracts no additional funding. From 2015 to 2018 the percentage of public school students receiving support within quality differentiated teaching practice has increased from 5.8% to 6.4%. The majority ofthis increase seems to have come from a reduction in the percentage of students receiving the lowest level of funded support, the supplementary support category, which has reduced from 8.3% of students to 8.0% since 2015. Students in public schools receiving substantial and extensive support is largely unchanged from 2015 to 2018.
25 Retrieved from https://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia/national-report on-school ing-in-a ustra I ia-data-porta I/school-stud ents-with-d isabiI ity
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Figure 1
Distribution of students with disability by level of adjustment and category of disability, government schools (2015)
Level of adjustment Cognitive Physical Sensory Social- All
Emotional … Support within QDTP 5.8 Supplementary 8.3 Substantial 3.4 Extensive 1.9
All 10.9 3.3 0.8 4.5 19.4
Level of adjustment % Category of disability % (all categories of disability) (all levels of adjustment)
10
10
5
0
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Figure 2
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Distribution of students with disability by level of adjustment and category of disability,
government schools (2018)
Level of adjustment Cognitive Physical Social-
Emotional
Support within QDTP 6.4 Supplementary 8.0 Substantial 3.4 Extensive 2.0 All 11.1 2.3 0.8 5.5 19.7 Level of adjustment % Category of disability % (all categories of disability) (all levels of adjustment)
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The Need for Improved Training, Professional Development and Support for Teachers
The establishment of a specified provision of initial education and ongoing professional development to enable teachers to provide the necessary support to students with disability is essential. According to the AEU’s 2018 State ofOur Schools survey 27% ofbeginning teachers said that their Initial Teacher Education training was not helpful in adequately preparing them to deal with students with disability and only 6% described their training as very helpful. This is exacerbated by a lack ofprofessional learning for educators whose classrooms are evolving under an inclusivity model and who then need support to adapt pedagogy and methodology to reflect these changes.
If teachers feel their training has not adequately prepared them for the many challenges of the classroom, and that little additional assistance is available to support them, it will be more difficult for them to provide the appropriate support to students with disability.
Given this problem has been officially acknowledged for a long time, it is worrying that a large proportion ofteachers believe they arrive at school ill-prepared. A 2005 survey of Australian beginning teachers found fewer than half were satisfied with the preparation they received to teach students with disability and more recently State ofOur Schools 2018 found that 94% of over 4,500 teachers surveyed were ofthe opinion that additional support for students with disability or behavioral issues would help them, with 76% saying it would be very helpful.
It is critical that teachers understand what constitutes best practice in support of students with disability and are provided with appropriate initial teacher education, continuing professional development and support in the classroom.
The AEU believes in order to best prepare teachers to support students with disability it is necessary:
■ that all teacher preservice degrees should contain at least one mandatory unit on teaching students with disability. ■ that education departments should provide mentoring, induction and support for all early career teachers with a particular focus on working with students with disability, and early career teachers should have access to advice from someone with expertise in disability education in their first two years of work. ■ that fully funded ongoing professional development on teaching students with disability is provided and made available to all existing teachers.
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Conclusion
The AEU’ s support for an inclusive approach to education is borne of the belief in quality education for all. The Commonwealth and State and Territory Departments of Education, teachers, parents and school communities have a shared responsibility to ensure the provision of quality education of all students. This is an important and complex task that has fallen too often on individual school communities and teachers, educational leaders and support staff - whose skills, health and workload are unsustainable in the absence of greater systemic support, safe work environments and substantially increased funding.
Teachers, educational leaders and support staff in public schools play a pivotal role in creating and promoting a society where all students can flourish, and they are essential in promoting social and emotional wellbeing, acting as early detectors of need and implementing effective prevention and intervention strategies. However, they should not and cannot be expected to shoulder this responsibility without the provision of adequate training, ongoing professional development, and support from specialist staff and adequate funding.
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Commonwealth funding for students with disability loading
Notes:
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These figures are based on data as at 17 November 2017 and are based on enrolment growth projections from 2018 onwards and cannot be relied upon to accurately portray funding for future years. All settings as Provisional Entitlement Advice.
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The 2017 and 2018 amounts are not fully comparable at a state and sector level as the disability loading from 2018 interacts with broader changes to the SRS and transition towards consistent Commonwealth shares. 2017 funding entitlements are not directly comparable with 2018 estimates as, under previous funding arrangements, Commonwealth funding for students with disability was based on differing state and territory definitions and a flat loading rate.
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It should be noted that the total Commonwealth funding amounts and the per student funding amounts are calculated using differentiated loadings for each of the three levels of adjustments (supplementary, substantial and extensive). As such, students with greater needs will attract higher levels of funding from the Commonwealth. The per student funding amounts are an average of the three levels of adjustment. This means that the division of the total funding amount by the per student funding amount will result in an anomalous figure that does not accurately reflect the number of students reported in the NCCD.
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Commonwealth funding provided through the students with disability loading is a notional attribution only as Commonwealth funding is paid to systems as a block, and the system determines the final distribution of funding.
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Finally, the loading should be considered as one component of total funding, as school spend all Commonwealth recurrent funding on meeting the individual needs of their students, including those with a disability.
*2017 figures are based on the previous SWD flat loading amount.
#2018-2027 estimates are based on information reported in the 2017 Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on students with disability (NCCD), with model settings as per the Australian Education Regulation 2013 (made and registered in November 2017). Final recurrent funding amounts may change subject to updated school enrolment information.
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Commonwealth funding for students with disability loading by state and sector, 2017-2027 ($m)
State Sector 2017* 2018# 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
Disability loading 180.5 232.7 250.1 268.4 287.8 308.5 330.6 346.6 363.5 381.3 400.3 NSW G Total school funding 2,185.8 2,348.8 2,522.4 2,706.7 2,898.4 3,105.9 3,326.7 3,488.4 3,658.3 3,836.4 4,023.5
Disability loading 192.6 191.3 199.5 208.3 217.4 226.9 237.2 246.2 255.3 264.8 274.9 NSW C Total school funding 1,914.3 2,004.5 2,089.7 2,182.4 2,278.7 2,379.4 2,485.6 2,579.4 2,674.3 2,770.6 2,875.5
Disability loading 138.8 127.8 140.5 154.5 169.3 184.9 201.4 210.3 219.2 227.5 236.5 NSW I Total school funding 1,389.7 1,489.6 1,590.2 1,699.9 1,813.8 1,932.8 2,056.7 2,149.8 2,241.8 2,328.2 2,418.4
Disability loading 149.2 171.7 187.9 205.0 222.9 241.8 262.3 276.7 291.7 307.6 324.2
VIC G
Total school funding 1,534.7 1,687.2 1,844.3 2,013.5 2,188.7 2,374.5 2,574.3 2,713.7 2,860.6 3,015.4 3,178.5
Disability loading 166.2 188.0 197.4 207.4 218.9 231.4 244.4 256.4 268.9 281.8 295.7
VIC C
Total school funding 1,836.2 1,928.9 2,024.8 2,129.4 2,244.5 2,367.2 2,494.3 2,614.1 2,739.0 2,865.7 3,005.4
Disability loading 71.1 117.8 128.5 140.2 153.0 166.9 181.6 192.6 203.6 214.6 226.2
VIC I
Total school funding 971.3 1,050.0 1,132.3 1,223.6 1,321.5 1,427.0 1,536.5 1,630.0 1,722.8 1,814.4 1,912.4
Disability loading 140.5 152.7 165.5 181.8 195.4 209.7 224.3 234.9 245.6 256.6 267.9
QLD G
Total school funding 1,551.5 1,687.2 1,827.6 2,008.1 2,158.6 2,314.1 2,475.1 2,591.9 2,709.9 2,830.5 2,956.3
Disability loading 106.5 70.3 73.3 78.4 81.8 85.3 89.0 92.6 96.5 100.5 104.8
QLD C
Total school funding 1,293.5 1,350.3 1,408.3 1,501.2 1,564.9 1,632.0 1,701.7 1,771.5 1,845.8 1,920.9 2,003.3
Disability loading 62.4 78.3 84.4 92.5 99.4 106.5 113.9 118.3 122.9 127.6 132.2
QLD I
Total school funding 920.4 983.8 1,048.6 1,136.9 1,210.0 1,283.1 1,357.8 1,409.9 1,461.8 1,517.3 1,573.1
Disability loading 54.9 51.0 55.8 60.8 66.2 71.7 77.6 80.8 84.1 87.2 90.3 SA G Total school funding 445.2 490.6 536.6 585.4 636.8 690.3 748.5 780.0 812.1 842.3 872.5
Disability loading 32.4 22.4 23.0 23.7 24.4 25.0 25.9 26.5 27.2 27.9 28.8 SA C Total school funding 370.3 383.3 393.8 405.4 417.7 429.7 443.7 454.0 465.3 476.7 491.2
Disability loading 38.1 29.1 31.2 33.5 35.9 38.3 40.8 42.3 43.8 45.3 46.9 SA I Total school funding 384.9 411.9 438.3 466.4 496.1 525.9 556.8 577.5 597.4 619.0 641.4
Disability loading 47.6 46.3 52.1 58.4 65.2 72.6 80.7 85.4 90.0 95.0 100.5 WA G Total school funding 620.0 703.1 790.7 886.7 989.2 1,101.3 1,222.7 1,291.8 1,362.2 1,437.4 1,520.0
Disability loading 35.5 55.9 59.2 62.6 66.4 70.4 74.7 78.7 83.1 87.6 92.5 WA C Total school funding 575.3 606.5 641.1 678.0 717.8 760.6 806.7 848.4 894.7 942.4 995.1
Disability loading 29.5 44.4 48.3 52.3 56.7 61.5 66.6 70.2 73.9 78.1 82.7 WA I Total school funding 511.1 547.9 586.7 628.2 671.5 719.4 770.6 810.2 852.6 900.6 953.2
Page 2 of 5
SUB.100.00345_01_0019
State Sector 2017* 2018# 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
Disability loading 17.5 10.2 10.6 11.1 11.5 12.1 12.6 13.0 13.4 13.7 14.1
TAS G
Total school funding 182.7 191.0 199.0 207.6 216.8 227.1 237.3 245.0 252.2 258.9 265.1
Disability loading 11.6 8.3 8.7 9.1 9.6 10.1 10.5 10.8 11.2 11.5 11.8
TAS C
Total school funding 149.2 157.8 166.6 175.2 184.1 193.3 202.4 208.8 215.0 220.8 226.7
Disability loading 8.4 5.8 6.1 6.4 6.8 7.0 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.9
TAS I
Total school funding 78.4 83.1 87.2 91.2 95.5 99.1 103.1 104.6 106.2 107.8 110.1
Disability loading 9.0 8.3 9.4 10.5 11.7 13.0 14.4 15.3 16.2 17.2 18.1
ACT G
Total school funding 90.6 102.2 114.8 129.1 144.0 159.8 176.9 188.2 199.7 211.8 224.0
Disability loading 8.5 11.5 11.5 11.5 11.5 11.4 11.4 11.4 11.3 11.2 11.0
ACT C
Total school funding 110.8 111.5 111.5 112.0 111.5 111.0 110.6 110.0 108.9 107.7 106.5
Disability loading 9.2 14.5 14.9 15.4 16.0 16.6 17.2 17.9 18.5 19.1 19.5
ACT I
Total school funding 80.6 81.0 83.0 85.3 88.2 91.1 94.0 97.1 100.1 102.5 104.1
Disability loading 27.1 19.7 20.3 20.9 21.7 22.5 23.3 24.2 25.0 25.9 26.8
NT G
Total school funding 193.7 200.2 206.4 213.0 220.7 228.6 236.7 245.0 253.6 262.3 271.3
Disability loading 5.9 8.4 9.3 10.2 11.1 12.1 13.2 13.9 14.6 15.4 16.2
NT C
Total school funding 71.2 78.0 85.9 94.4 103.0 112.3 122.2 128.5 135.0 141.8 149.1
Disability loading 6.7 6.1 6.7 7.4 8.2 9.0 10.0 10.7 11.6 12.5 13.5
NT I
Total school funding 74.7 80.6 88.3 97.3 107.3 118.4 130.6 141.1 152.6 165.2 179.1
Disability loading 626.1 692.6 751.6 817.0 882.5 951.9 1,025.8 1,076.7 1,129.6 1,184.4 1,242.2
Australia G
Total school funding 6,804.1 7,410.3 8,041.7 8,750.1 9,453.2 10,201.6 10,998.1 11,544.0 12,108.5 12,695.1 13,311.3
Disability loading 559.1 556.1 581.9 611.2 641.1 672.7 706.4 736.5 768.0 800.7 835.6
Australia C
Total school funding 6,320.8 6,620.7 6,921.9 7,277.9 7,622.2 7,985.5 8,367.2 8,714.7 9,077.9 9,446.6 9,852.7
Disability loading 364.3 423.8 460.7 502.1 545.2 590.7 638.8 669.9 701.1 732.3 765.3
Australia I
Total school funding 4,411.0 4,728.0 5,054.6 5,428.9 5,803.8 6,196.7 6,606.3 6,920.1 7,235.3 7,554.9 7,891.8
Disability loading 923.4 979.9 1,042.6 1,113.3 1,186.3 1,263.4 1,345.3 1,406.3 1,469.1 1,533.0 1,601.0
Australia Non-G
Total school funding 10,731.8 11,348.7 11,976.5 12,706.8 13,426.0 14,182.2 14,973.5 15,634.8 16,313.2 17,001.6 17,744.5
Disability loading 1,549.6 1,672.5 1,794.2 1,930.3 2,068.8 2,215.2 2,371.0 2,483.1 2,598.6 2,717.4 2,843.2
Australia All
Total school funding 17,535.9 18,759.0 20,018.2 21,457.0 22,879.2 24,383.8 25,971.6 27,178.8 28,421.7 29,696.6 31,055.8
See notes on page 1
Page 3 of 5
SUB.100.00345_01_0020
Commonwealth per student funding for students with disability loading by state and sector, 2017-2027 ($/FTE)
State Sector 2017* 2018# 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
Disability loading 230 292 310 328 347 366 387 400 414 428 443 NSW G Total school funding 2,782 2,948 3,123 3,305 3,492 3,689 3,895 4,027 4,163 4,304 4,450
Disability loading 883 873 910 948 985 1,024 1,064 1,100 1,138 1,177 1,217 NSW C Total school funding 8,780 9,144 9,529 9,929 10,324 10,733 11,154 11,530 11,919 12,314 12,726
Disability loading 702 632 683 736 792 849 910 935 961 988 1,017 NSW I Total school funding 7,025 7,369 7,729 8,104 8,483 8,877 9,289 9,555 9,830 10,111 10,401
Disability loading 249 279 299 319 339 361 384 397 411 425 439
VIC G
Total school funding 2,565 2,742 2,931 3,130 3,333 3,546 3,769 3,897 4,028 4,164 4,304
Disability loading 800 895 931 967 1,004 1,044 1,085 1,122 1,161 1,201 1,242
VIC C
Total school funding 8,836 9,185 9,549 9,930 10,299 10,682 11,075 11,442 11,824 12,217 12,625
Disability loading 519 835 888 942 998 1,057 1,119 1,156 1,194 1,235 1,276
VIC I
Total school funding 7,090 7,443 7,822 8,218 8,618 9,036 9,474 9,785 10,108 10,442 10,786
Disability loading 260 275 291 309 326 345 364 376 389 402 416
QLD G
Total school funding 2,871 3,039 3,217 3,412 3,604 3,804 4,012 4,151 4,293 4,439 4,587
Disability loading 729 478 496 516 535 554 574 593 613 634 655
QLD C
Total school funding 8,854 9,179 9,518 9,885 10,236 10,600 10,971 11,343 11,727 12,121 12,524
Disability loading 532 659 703 748 795 844 897 926 959 991 1,022
QLD I
Total school funding 7,848 8,280 8,728 9,199 9,675 10,173 10,689 11,041 11,407 11,781 12,165
Disability loading 321 292 314 338 363 389 416 430 444 459 475 SA G Total school funding 2,604 2,807 3,023 3,253 3,493 3,745 4,009 4,147 4,291 4,439 4,592
Disability loading 772 541 564 587 611 634 660 682 706 731 756 SA C Total school funding 8,832 9,246 9,635 10,042 10,455 10,870 11,304 11,678 12,071 12,478 12,901
Disability loading 750 571 609 648 688 729 773 799 826 852 880 SA I Total school funding 7,573 8,100 8,553 9,030 9,515 10,022 10,551 10,905 11,272 11,651 12,042
Disability loading 173 164 180 198 216 235 255 263 272 281 291 WA G Total school funding 2,251 2,485 2,734 2,998 3,271 3,558 3,858 3,987 4,120 4,257 4,399
Disability loading 537 837 874 913 952 993 1,034 1,070 1,107 1,145 1,183 WA C Total school funding 8,689 9,083 9,477 9,889 10,302 10,729 11,167 11,537 11,922 12,318 12,725
Disability loading 421 628 675 724 775 829 885 916 946 977 1,010 WA I Total school funding 7,304 7,747 8,210 8,691 9,184 9,699 10,237 10,572 10,918 11,274 11,641
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SUB.100.00345_01_0021
State Sector 2017* 2018# 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
Disability loading 310 181 189 197 205 214 222 230 238 246 254
TAS G
Total school funding 3,247 3,388 3,538 3,699 3,861 4,030 4,200 4,348 4,497 4,648 4,801
Disability loading 773 547 574 600 629 658 688 709 734 760 787
TAS C
Total school funding 9,928 10,425 10,946 11,495 12,050 12,631 13,231 13,687 14,156 14,636 15,126
Disability loading 922 638 675 716 760 803 852 881 913 941 976
TAS I
Total school funding 8,559 9,129 9,642 10,187 10,738 11,312 11,912 12,327 12,755 13,191 13,643
Disability loading 218 193 208 224 240 257 275 284 294 305 315
ACT G
Total school funding 2,208 2,377 2,557 2,748 2,947 3,158 3,382 3,503 3,630 3,761 3,895
Disability loading 612 819 817 813 809 802 797 788 776 763 746
ACT C
Total school funding 7,989 7,976 7,955 7,920 7,862 7,790 7,705 7,605 7,490 7,359 7,210
Disability loading 679 1,072 1,079 1,085 1,094 1,101 1,108 1,112 1,115 1,117 1,116
ACT I
Total school funding 5,959 5,977 6,000 6,022 6,036 6,046 6,050 6,041 6,025 5,999 5,963
Disability loading 895 640 652 664 675 686 697 708 719 729 740
NT G
Total school funding 6,409 6,522 6,637 6,755 6,862 6,968 7,073 7,178 7,283 7,385 7,488
Disability loading 1,204 1,700 1,837 1,978 2,125 2,278 2,441 2,523 2,608 2,694 2,788
NT C
Total school funding 14,576 15,758 16,992 18,294 19,641 21,056 22,546 23,300 24,079 24,882 25,720
Disability loading 1,085 961 1,024 1,089 1,157 1,229 1,304 1,348 1,394 1,442 1,491
NT I
Total school funding 12,050 12,756 13,504 14,284 15,173 16,107 17,088 17,715 18,365 19,035 19,735
Disability loading 251 271 289 307 326 346 366 379 391 404 418
Australia G
Total school funding 2,723 2,900 3,088 3,288 3,491 3,705 3,928 4,060 4,196 4,336 4,479
Disability loading 783 774 806 838 871 906 942 974 1,007 1,042 1,077
Australia C
Total school funding 8,855 9,213 9,585 9,976 10,358 10,754 11,160 11,527 11,908 12,298 12,700
Disability loading 605 692 740 789 841 896 953 983 1,015 1,047 1,080
Australia I
Total school funding 7,330 7,718 8,116 8,534 8,956 9,395 9,852 10,156 10,471 10,796 11,133
Disability loading 702 736 775 815 857 901 947 978 1,011 1,044 1,078
Australia Non-G
Total school funding 8,157 8,525 8,905 9,304 9,701 10,115 10,543 10,877 11,225 11,582 11,952
Disability loading 406 430 454 479 506 533 562 580 599 618 638
Australia All
Total school funding 4,598 4,827 5,069 5,329 5,592 5,868 6,154 6,349 6,550 6,755 6,969
See notes on page 1
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