Disability and Education

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. K.L. Vincent:

1. That a select committee of the Legislative Council be established to inquire into and report on access to the South Australian education system for students with disabilities, their families, and support networks, including:

(a) the experience of students with disabilities, additional learning needs and/or challenging behaviours, and their families and advocates in the South Australian education system, including early childhood centres, junior primary, primary and high schools;

(b) the experience of discrimination, including victimisation and harassment, of students with disabilities, including, but not limited to, educational institutions failing to provide students with the support needed to reach their full academic potential on an equal basis with non-disabled students;

(c) the experience of segregation, restraint, lack of social opportunities and inadequate supports for personal care requirements, and other personal care routines such as toilet use for students with disabilities;

(d) the current level of initial and in-service training for teachers and other staff regarding students with disabilities, and suggestions for broadening and improving such training;

(e) the appropriateness or otherwise of the current DECD and school based policies and funding mechanisms for behaviour management for students with disabilities;

(f) the availability of specialist DECD staff, including speech pathology and psychology staff in rural and regional South Australia; and

(g) any other related matter.

2. That standing order No. 389 be so far suspended as to enable the chairperson of the committee to have a deliberative vote only.

3. That this council permits the select committee to authorise the disclosure or publication, as it thinks fit, of any evidence or documents presented to the committee prior to such evidence being presented to the council.

4. That standing order No. 396 be suspended to enable strangers to be admitted when the select committee is examining witnesses unless the committee otherwise resolves, but they shall be excluded when the committee is deliberating.

5. That the committee hearings be disability accessible and resourced with Auslan interpreters as required.

(Continued from 6 May 2015.)

The Hon. T.T. NGO (17:17): I move to amend the motion, as follows:

Paragraph 1(e)—delete the words 'the current DECD and'; and

Paragraph 1(f)—delete the word 'DECD'.

This amendment is to ensure that this inquiry reviews all sectors within the South Australian education system. This will give the committee the flexibility to call witnesses not just in the government schools but also all schools, when necessary. The state government is happy to support the set up of this inquiry with these amendments, and looks forward to working closely with the committee.

We understand and appreciate that issues addressed will be broad and we are here to listen. Be it matters of infrastructure, equipment, equality and services, we know there is always more work to do, and we will never stop listening. Whenever possible we will follow up with actions such as steadily increasing funding to students, which in 2014 totalled $163 million, or significantly increasing investments in infrastructure, such as rebuilding seven special schools and collocating them on mainstream schools.

In addition, the government has increased the number of disability units and special classes across the state. Since 2010, seven new disability units, autism intervention programs at Blackwood and The Heights schools and 12 new special classes have been established. An improved support service structure has also been created. Additional psychologists, speech pathologists and special educators are available to support teachers and students, in addition to attendance officers, behaviour support coaches, social workers and family focus workers.

We know there is no 'one size fits all' approach to accommodating the needs of these students and their families which is why, whenever possible, we will aim to support choice. For this reason, we have also worked closely with both the Treetop board and now Autism Spectrum Australia or Aspect (a service provider for autism and other disabilities) to set up South Australia's first autism specific school planned to open in the middle of 2016.

While the kind of supports I have mentioned can make life easier for students and parents, the state government is under no illusion that life for these brave people and their families is a challenge. The committee's work will be important, and we hope it will complement some of the existing channels already set up to give a voice to families with students who have a disability.

The Minister for Education and Child Development's office is, and will continue to be, a place where concerns and suggestions for the disability community can be heard. This is further complemented by the work of the Ministerial Advisory Committee: Students with Disabilities. The committee performs a number of roles that include:

1. Undertaking projects and providing advice on matters concerning the care and education of students with disability.

2. Ensuring equitable, transparent and accountable distribution of commonwealth and state money to eligible organisations that support the care and education of students with disability across the three education sectors.

3. Supporting non-government organisations to provide services to children and students with disability in early childhood education and care services and schools across the three education sectors.

When we encounter areas for improvement we work with the community to address them transparently and as quickly as possible. We intend this to be no different when working with the committee, and for this reason we welcome this proactive approach with the sole intention of improving the lives of students with disabilities and their families. With that, I would like to be on the committee as the government representative.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (17:23): I too indicate that the opposition will be supporting the motion and will be supporting the government's amendment to that, unless the mover of the motion gives us a good argument as to why we should not.

I see this select committee as almost the second in a series. In the last parliament it was my privilege, along with the Hon. Kelly Vincent and other members, to be part of the select committee on access to justice for people with disability. I say a second in a series because the select committee on access to justice for people with disability very much saw its role in the context of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the optional protocol. Article 13 of that convention specifically lays down the right of people with disability to access justice and, likewise, article 24 focuses on the rights of people with disability to access education.

I must say that the contribution of the Hon. Tung Ngo today is very welcome. I think it would be fair to say that the government approached the first committee on access to justice for people with disability with some suspicion. I am delighted to see that the government is taking a positive approach to this committee, and I take that as some confirmation of the work of the first committee.

I think one of the valuable aspects of the first committee was that by accident or design there was a parallel process for the development of a disability justice plan. There was some very good work done, particularly by members of the Attorney-General's Department, in facilitating that work, to the point where submissions to the select committee were explicitly said by the department to be, if you like, taken as submissions to the Disability Justice Plan, and the parallel work, I think, was very valuable.

I do not know whether there will be other events that will operate in parallel with this committee that could facilitate the integration of the policies into government practice, but I think the parallel development of the Disability Justice Plan certainly facilitated a useful dialogue. Perhaps we would still be developing a disability justice plan now if it had not been developed in parallel. That is a matter for government to consider, but I think other members involved in that committee would speak positively of the way those two processes worked hand-in-hand.

When I think about disability and education I think of two particular values. One is the need for young South Australians with a disability to have full equality of opportunity to achieve their potential, and we see that value in this motion. Clause 1(b) talks about the experience of students with disabilities, particularly the ability of educational institutions to 'provide students with the support needed to reach their full academic potential on an equal basis with non-disabled students.' Every South Australian is entitled to the education that they need to fulfil their potential to the maximum. That is particularly a Liberal value and I am delighted to see it reflected in this motion.

As a footnote to that comment, education in the past for people with disability has often been delivered through a separate special schools network. Over recent decades we have seen more and more the value, both within the educational experience and within the broader social experience, of both people with disabilities and people without disabilities, for all South Australians, receiving their education wherever possible in an integrated environment.

In more recent years we might dub that social inclusion, but there certainly is value in terms of people understanding the diversity within our community, embracing the differences, for education to occur together. They are not unrelated. If students are to receive equality of opportunity, a young student with disability may well have a greater range of options in an integrated education system. That value is also reflected in the motion. In clause (b) we see the reference to discrimination and in clause (c) we see the reference to segregation. It also mentions some of the difficult issues in relation to integration, where it mentions behaviour management. Sometimes students with disabilities are excluded because their needs are not properly met, and that leads to a behaviour management issue.

I would also emphasise the breadth of this resolution, and the Liberal Party welcomes that breadth. Disabilities do not have a sharp border, and we appreciate that phrases such as 'learning needs' in clause (a) would encompass a broad range of issues for young people. For example, we presume and understand from our discussions with the mover that the motion would encompass people with dyslexia, autism spectrum disorders (of course), and other forms of learning and other disabilities. I commend the Hon. Kelly Vincent for bringing the motion before the council and the opposition looks forward to more good work being done by this council to ensure that South Australians with a disability live full lives within our communities.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (17:30): In summing up on behalf of Dignity for Disability I thank the speakers to this motion, the Hon. Tung Ngo and the Hon. Stephen Wade. I also thank those who have given feedback on this motion and this process thus far, particularly with reference to putting the terms of reference together to ensure that it encapsulated all the issues we had envisaged. I also thank those who attended the forum we had on the potential establishment of this committee and on broader issues of education for students with disabilities, including parents of students with disabilities, present and former students themselves, education professionals and members of parliament. I think I am correct in saying the Hon. Mr Darley and staff from the office of the Hon. Ms Franks were there and we certainly appreciate that interest.

We also appreciate the broad support we have for the establishment of this committee. In one sense, that should be a given because the education and thereby the future of our state's young people should be beyond politics. All we are asking for in establishing this committee is the opportunity for people to come and tell us their real-life stories, their lived experiences of gaps and failings in the education system, as well as what is happening currently that is positive so that we know what we should continue to focus on. As I said earlier in this place: nothing about us without us. We need to be reminded to use those real-life stories to identify positive ways forward.

If I can pick up on a few points from our speakers today. I would like to clarify that Dignity for Disability will support the government's amendment to the terms of reference to remove references to DECD. It was certainly our intention that this committee would focus on all schools, government and non-government, but if the removal of DECD makes that clearer then we are happy to proceed with that. So, I thank the Hon. Mr Ngo for bringing that to our intention and subsequently moving the amendment.

There was a moment in the contribution of the Hon. Mr Ngo, and I do hope I am not misquoting him here because sometimes it is a little difficult to hear across the chamber, if I am misquoting him I am sure he will tell me, but I recall a moment in his speech where he referred to what I understand as people with disabilities and our families as 'these brave people,' is what I have written down here.

I am not brave. I am scared of the dark. I jump when the toast pops up out of the toaster. What I am is intolerant of injustice and tired of seeing my taxes going towards services, including schools, that myself in my school days and my peers with disabilities cannot access. If we are brave it is only because we spend so much of our lives fighting the barriers that the system erects for us. So, rather than congratulating us on being brave, I would humbly suggest it would be better to fix those scary situations.

The other point I would like to clarify briefly—and the Hon. Mr Wade already touched on this—is the fact that the terms of reference certainly cover all types of disability as well as additional learning needs and challenging behaviours. I understand that the Liberal opposition had some concerns that conditions such as ADHD and dyslexia may not have been covered by these terms of reference, but it is certainly my understanding and Dignity for Disability's view that the phrases 'additional learning needs' and 'challenging behaviours' will cover those types of situations.

We have certainly worked quite hard on these terms of reference, getting advice from a number of interested parties, because we wanted to make sure that the terms were broad enough to encompass all those things. Ultimately, as far as I am concerned, this is really not an issue about disability at all: this is an issue about the system, the education system in this instance, being inflexible and unable to deal with difference. Given that we have a rapidly diversifying population that includes not only people with disability but also students with all kinds of differences, I think it is important that we try to look at this broadly.

However, there are a number of disability-specific issues, if I may put it that way, that we need to be mindful of and take very seriously. A survey recently conducted by Children With Disability Australia, the peak body representing children with disability, shows that as many as one in four students with disability are currently being denied enrolment at their school of choice or unable to attend school full-time due to a lack of disability-positive supports. Given that these families pay full-time school fees and do not pay their taxes part-time, it is blatantly unacceptable that students should not be properly supported to have their human right to an education met.

Of course, there was also the incident I mentioned in my speech introducing this motion, where a young boy with a disability was kept in the classroom in a cage-like structure made out of pool fencing because it was felt that the school staff did not have the tools to positively support him in the classroom environment. Certainly, we need to look at funding opportunities and whether there are gaps we can close but, more broadly, I think this is about cultural shift, and the way we inform cultural shift is by involving the people who live in that culture day in day out and by respecting the expertise they gain through their life and everyday experience.

That is why I am very pleased to have the support to establish this committee. I thank all members and parties who have indicated their support. I very much look forward to using this, as we did the access to justice committee, as a positive collaborative method to identify workable solutions for our education system in this state.

Amendment carried; motion as amended carried.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (17:39): I move:

That the select committee consist of the Hon. T.T. Ngo, the Hon. J.S. Lee, the Hon. S.G. Wade, the Hon. T.A. Franks and the mover.

Motion carried.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: I move:

That the select committee have power to send for persons, papers and records, to adjourn from place to place and to report on 29 July 2015.

Motion carried.