Australia’s Disability Discrimination Commissioner has urged the Queensland Government to abandon plans for six new special schools and instead invest in making mainstream classrooms inclusive, arguing the move runs counter to a national commitment to inclusive education.
Rosemary Kayess confirmed she has written to the Queensland Premier and the state’s Education Minister outlining her concerns after the recent state budget earmarked funding for six segregated schools in South East Queensland.
Governments across Australia, including Queensland, have in the past year endorsed work on a National Roadmap for Inclusive Education, which is intended to shift the system towards equal access in mainstream settings with the right expertise and supports.
‘The investment to build new segregated schools goes directly against the Queensland Government’s commitment to inclusive education, the principles of the National Roadmap for Inclusive Education and a key recommendation of the recent Disability Royal Commission.
‘It is deeply concerning that the Queensland Government is blatantly ignoring all the evidence and expert advice in relation to the significant benefits of inclusive education for people with disability.
‘We know that inclusive education leads to better academic outcomes and reduced social exclusion as well as increased employment opportunities for people with disability. It also reduces rates of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation experienced by people with disability.
‘For the cost of the 6 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 that would make them inclusive.
‘Segregated schooling leads to segregated lives for many people with disability and this is unacceptable. If we want a society where everyone is included and where everyone feels they belong, then we need to be phasing out ‘special schools’, not building more of them.
‘Rather than embracing a brighter future for all Queenslanders, the Queensland Government is locking the state into a failed ableist model of the past which penalises people with disability.
‘I’m calling on the Queensland Government to honour its commitment to fulfilling the right to education on an equal basis with others by replacing its plan to build new segregated schools and invest instead in inclusive education across the state.’
The Disability Royal Commission’s final report recommended governments chart a pathway towards more inclusive education and reduce segregation over time, though responses from jurisdictions are still being developed alongside the national roadmap.
The Queensland Government has been contacted for comment.
