Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T15:56:01.230Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Supporting Students With Communication Impairment in Australian Schools: Administering the Obligation to Make Reasonable Adjustment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 May 2019

Elizabeth Dickson Open the ORCID record for Elizabeth Dickson [Opens in a new window]
Elizabeth Dickson*
Affiliation:
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this article, I address the problem that education support for students with communication impairment may be delivered in an inconsistent manner within schools, or school systems, exposing affected students to harm and affected schools to the risk of litigation. Analysis of relevant Australian disability discrimination legislation and related case law demonstrates that there is a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustment for students with communication impairment and that a fair and equitable system may be postulated to administer that obligation. The Australian Government has recently committed to a needs-based funding model for Australian schools but further work needs to be done to establish how resources that flow to schools under that model should best be applied. This article aims to provide some guidance to those who will make decisions within schools about the management of the sometimes scarce and often expensive support resources for students with communication impairment.

Keywords

communication impairmentreasonable adjustmentAustralian law
Type
Original Articles
Information
Australasian Journal of Special and Inclusive Education , Volume 43 , Issue 1 , July 2019 , pp. 41 - 53
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

This manuscript was accepted under the Editorship of Umesh Sharma.

References

Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld)Google Scholar
Australian Education Amendment Act 2017 (Cth)Google Scholar
Australian Senate, Community Affairs References Committee. (2014). Prevalence of different types of speech, language and communication disorders and speech pathology services in Australia. Retrieved from http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Speech_Pathology/~/media/Committees/clac_ctte/speech_pathology/report/report.pdfGoogle Scholar
Australian Senate, Education and Employment References Committee. (2016). Access to real learning: The impact of policy, funding and culture on students with disability. Retrieved from http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/students_with_disability/ReportGoogle Scholar
Australian Government Department of Education and Training. (2011). Review of funding for schooling: Final report. Retrieved from https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/review-of-funding-for-schooling-final-report-dec-2011.pdfGoogle Scholar
Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. (2012). 2015 Review of the Disability Standards for Education 2005. Retrieved https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/final-report-2015-review-disability-standards-education-2005Google Scholar
Australian Government Department of Human Services, National Disability Insurance Agency. (2016). Towards an ordinary life: Annual report 2015-16. Retrieved from https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/publications/annual-report/annual-report-2015-16Google Scholar
Birmingham, S., & Turnbull, M. (2017, June 23). Needs-based, long-term funding certainty for Australia’s schools [Press release]. Retrieved from https://ministers.education.gov.au/birmingham/needs-based-long-term-funding-certainty-australias-schoolsGoogle Scholar
Clarke v. Catholic Education Office [2003] FCA 1085Google Scholar
Deloitte Access Economics. (2017). Review of education for students with disability in Queensland state schools. Retrieved from http://education.qld.gov.au/schools/disability/docs/disability-review-report.pdfGoogle Scholar
Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)Google Scholar
Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth)Google Scholar
Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic)Google Scholar
Georgopoulos, V. C., Malandraki, G. A., & Stylios, C. D. (2003). A fuzzy cognitive map approach to differential diagnosis of specific language impairment. Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, 29, 261–278. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0933-3657(02)00076-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hurst v. State of Queensland [2006] FCAFC 100Google Scholar
Hutchinson, T., & Duncan, N. (2012). Defining and describing what we do: Doctrinal legal research. Deakin Law Review, 17, 83–119. https://doi.org/10.21153/dlr2012vol17no1art70CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jerger, J., & Musiek, F. (2000). Report of the Consensus Conference on the Diagnosis of Auditory Processing Disorders in School-Aged Children. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 11, 467–474.Google Scholar
Kiefel v. State of Victoria [2013] FCA 1398Google Scholar
McLeod, S., & McKinnon, D. H. (2007). Prevalence of communication disorders compared with other learning needs in 14 500 primary and secondary school students. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 42(S1), 37–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/13682820601173262CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pearce, D. C., Campbell, E., & Harding, D. E. (1987). Australian law schools: A discipline assessment for the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission. Canberra, Australia: Australian Government Printing Service.Google Scholar
Sievwright v. State of Victoria [2012] FCA 118Google Scholar
Speech Pathology Australia. (n.d.). Communication impairment in Australia. Retrieved from https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/SPAweb/General_Information/Fact_Sheets/SPAweb/General_Information/Fact_Sheets/Fact_Sheets.aspx?hkey=e0ad33fb-f640-45b1-8a06-11ed2b73f293Google Scholar
Speech Pathology Australia. (2012). Research into experiences of students with disability in Victoria schools: Submission to the Victorian Equal Opportunity & Human Rights Commission. Retrieved from http://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/lobbying-a-advocacy/submissionsGoogle Scholar
Speech Pathology Australia. (2015). Submission to the 2015 review of the Disability Standards for Education (2005). Retrieved from https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/SPAweb/Resources_for_the_Public/Advocacy/Submissions_prior_2018.aspx?WebsiteKey=fc2020cb-520d-405b-af30-fc7f70f848dbGoogle Scholar
State of Victoria v. Turner [2009] VSC 66Google Scholar
Urbis. (2015). 2015 Review of the Disability Standards for Education 2005: Final report. Retrieved from https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/final-report-2015-dse-review.pdfGoogle Scholar
Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. (2012). Held back: The experiences of students with disabilities in Victorian schools. Retrieved from http://www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/index.php/2012-10-18-01-21-18/our-projects-a-initiatives/disability-in-schools#reportGoogle Scholar
Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. (2017). Held back: The experiences of students with disabilities in Victorian schools – Analysis paper. Retrieved from https://www.humanrightscommission.vic.gov.au/home/our-resources-and-publications/reports/item/1602-held-back-the-experiences-of-students-with-disabilities-in-victorian-schools-analysis-paperGoogle Scholar
Walker v. State of Victoria [2011] FCA 258Google Scholar