Students with disability

All Australian children have the same right to education and opportunities. This right is protected by law, including in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Australian Government's Disability Standards for Education 2005.

In the ACT, most school-aged children with disabilities attend their local schools. A smaller number attend specialist schools for children with moderate, severe or profound intellectual disabilities. Specialist preschool is also available for younger children.

Find out how we're equipping schools to support all learners in our 10-year inclusive education strategy for ACT public schools.

What ACT public schools offer

If your child has a disability, they are welcome and encouraged to attend their local public school. These schools are supported to help your child fully participate in school life.

Our schools are supported to provide:

• reasonable adjustments for those who need them
• access to allied health professionals and school psychologists
• dedicated spaces for students to regulate and access small group learning
• individual learning plans.

Find out how to enrol in a public school.

Reasonable adjustments

Reasonable adjustments are changes a school makes so that a child can participate in education on an equal basis with other children. These adjustments are made even if a child does not have a diagnosed disability.

They may be made in the areas of planning, teaching and learning, curriculum, assessment, reporting, extracurricular activities, environment and infrastructure and resources.

Schools work with students, their families and professionals to identify and implement the necessary adjustments.

For children with disability, these adjustments aim to minimise any disadvantages they might face. For example:

• Classroom settings: providing multiple seating options, such as wobble chairs and angled writing boards.
• Teaching: providing visual prompts to help children remember steps to complete a task, checking in regularly to make sure they understand the work.
• Learning and assessment materials: providing materials in accessible formats, like large print or Braille, or modifying assessment tasks.
• Assistive technology: using devices or software that aid learning, such as speech-to-text programs.
• Physical environment: ensuring the school is physically accessible, including ramps and accessible toilets, giving regular movement breaks and providing access to calming sensory spaces
• Support services: such as a Learning Support Assistant to help with personal care.

Find out more about reasonable adjustments in schools, including case studies, on the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) website.

Speak to the school directly about your child's needs. You can do this before the year your child starts school.

Funding for students with disability is used flexibly within schools to support programs and reasonable adjustments for all. It is not attached to individual students.

Access to health professionals

Every school has access to a school psychologist. Schools contact us directly to request support from our team of other health professionals.

They do not provide individual therapy, but support schools to use evidence-based strategies and reasonable adjustments that support the student.

Our team includes:

• speech pathologists
• occupational therapists
• social workers
• physiotherapists
• allied health assistants.

Find out more about student support and wellbeing.

Individual learning plans

Some children have an individual learning plan. The plan helps identify goals and adjustments needed to achieve them.

It is developed by a team who work together, including the:

• child or young person, where possible
• parents or carers
• principal or delegate
• Disability Education Coordination Officer or executive teacher
• classroom teachers
• other support staff, where appropriate.

The plan is regularly monitored, reviewed and updated. The school usually meets with families twice a year, to create and review the plan.

Support during changes at school

Changes at school are often called transitions. They can include major changes such as moving schools, or smaller changes such as moving between classrooms and activities.

Sometimes students benefit from extra support during changes at school.

Students and their parents or caregivers can talk to their school about what can help during these times.

For advice on supporting your child through changes at school, read the Australian Government's Disability Standards for Education information about milestones and transitions.

Read our information on supporting your child when they are starting primary school, high school and college.

Additional supports

Your child may have National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) funding for therapists, such as an occupational therapist or speech pathologist. If you want your child to have these appointments at school, talk to the school to arrange this.

You may also be able to apply for free transport between home and school if your child has an active NDIS plan. More information on Special Needs Transport is on the Transport Canberra website.

Related information

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