Responsibility: Australian, state and territory governments
Response: Accept in principle
Status: Further work required
What has been achieved to date
Governments have signed the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement or Better and Fairer Schools Agreement – Full and Fair Funding 2025-2034 which affirm all parties continued commitment to the implementation of Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-31 (the Strategy). The Strategy includes a policy priority to build capability in the delivery of inclusive education in schools.
The Australian Government has commenced targeted consultation with people with lived experience of disability and other key stakeholders to inform the design and delivery of inclusive education reforms.
In December 2023, Education Ministers committed to working together to meet the needs of students with disability in education, and agreed an initial priority was to identify opportunities for national collaborative action. Discussions to support the development of policy responses have commenced and regular officials-level meetings are ongoing. It is anticipated that advice for Education Ministers will be prepared in the second half of 2025.
What the Disability Royal Commission said in the final report
a) The Education Ministers Meeting should publicly release a ‘National Roadmap to Inclusive Education’ for students with disability. The roadmap should:
- detail the outcome measures, targets, actions and milestones for delivering the Royal Commission’s recommendations for inclusive education
- provide public transparency on how the recommendations will be implemented and progress tracked and publicly reported.
b) State and territory education ministers should report annually to the Education Ministers Meeting on progress against agreed milestones and associated outcome performance measures in the roadmap. Annual progress reports should outline actions to overcome identified barriers to progress and be publicly released.
c) The Education Ministers Meeting should identify the National Roadmap to Inclusive Education in its 2024 report to National Cabinet as one of its priorities and include it in its workplan.
Joint Government Response July 2024
The Australian Government and state and territory governments support the Disability Royal Commission’s vision for more accessible and inclusive education for school students with disability.
Education Ministers commit to work in partnership with people with disability to set out how this vision will be achieved over time.
More recommendations
View progress on other recommendations made by the Royal Commission.