The NSW Government has announced that it will launch an inquiry into “current levels of access and attainment for children and young people with disability in New South Wales educational settings” in the New Year.
The Committee is being chaired by Ms Abigail Boyd MLC who indicated that “This inquiry is concerned with the experiences of children and young people with disability across various educational settings within NSW and the ways in which the NSW Government can ensure principles of equity and inclusion for all participants within our education system.’”
This inquiry has been launched in response to the findings of the Disability Royal Commission and aims to help the NSW government navigate the new policy framework of the recently published NDIS review.
The scope of matters to be considered in particular are:
- the experiences of children and young people within educational settings and measures to better support students with disability
- the barriers to safe, quality and inclusive education for children with disability in schools, early childhood education services and other educational settings
- the specific needs of children and young people with disability in regional, rural and remote schools, early childhood education services and other educational settings
- the impact on children and young people with disability and their families associated with inadequate levels of support
- the benefits for all children and young people if students with disability are provided with adequate levels of support
- the social, economic and personal benefits of improving outcomes for students with disability at school and in further education and employment
- the experiences of teachers, early childhood educators, learning support staff and others with a role in educating children with disability and measures to adequately resource and empower those educators
- the resourcing available to educational settings and educators, including infrastructure, to support the needs of children and young people with disability in New South Wales
- the measures necessary to ensure the learning environment is safe and inclusive for all students, teachers and school support staff
- the impact of policies regarding suspensions and expulsions
- the impact of policies regarding the use of restrictive practices
- the effectiveness and availability of early intervention programs
- whether existing regulatory and oversight mechanisms are sufficient to protect and promote the rights of children and young people with disability, and protect those children and young people from abuse, neglect and exploitation
- whether children and young people with disability should be included under the remit of the Ageing and Disability Commissioner
- developments since the 2017 Upper House inquiry into education of students with disability or special needs in New South Wales
- measures to implement the Disability Royal Commission's recommendations in relation to inclusive education, and
- "any other related matters"
The committee is set to issue It’s report by 30 May 2024 however the window for submissions closes on 29 February 2024.
Stakeholder submissions are being sought by the Committee and CSA is looking for feedback and input from schools to make a submission. For more details see their website here.