05 Dec 2023
The ACT Government today released Inclusive Education: A Disability Inclusion Strategy for ACT public schools 2024-34.The strategy reaffirms our commitment to ensuring all children and young people, regardless of their circumstances, have access to high quality education on the same basis as their peers.
This new strategy demonstrates this commitment and outlines a range of system supports for schools so that they can provide quality education that effectively meets the diversity of student needs.
The strategy identifies seven focus areas: culture, relationships, learning, key transitions, workforce, resourcing, and infrastructure. This recognises that achieving inclusive education for every child and young person will require careful planning and effort across all these areas.
The first action plan also released today identifies specific actions to ensure we strengthen and embed inclusive practices across our education system.
Investments of 9.9 million in the 2023-24 budget will help build capability across the system, including funding for 8 expert inclusion coaches to be rolled out in the Tuggeranong region first. The inclusion coaches will be supported by a senior inclusion coach, and a transitions coach who will be dedicated to helping students with disability transition into and beyond college.
This investment also includes funding for:
- A suite of professional learning resources in key areas such as universal design for learning, managing complex behaviours, and understanding neurodiversity.
- Partnerships between specialist and local schools to enable sharing of professional expertise in supporting students with complex needs and joint activities and collaborations between students and staff from partnered schools.
- Implementation planning with schools to ensure reforms are implemented in a way that meets the needs of schools and school communities,
- Work to develop and prepare for a new needs-based funding model for students with disability;
- Building inclusive school cultures starting with school leaders;
- Establishing a student voice forum to ensure students with disability are at the heart of driving implementation of the Strategy; and
- Reviewing the allied health model to ensure it is best placed to meet the needs of students with disability across ACT public schools.
This strategy will strengthen inclusive practices across ACT public schools to ensure every child and young person can access high quality education on the same basis as their peers.