That ICPA (Aust) lobbies the Federal Government, the Minister for Education and other relevant ministers and government departments to provide funding for students with a disability in residential boarding facilities, so that their needs can be met, and reasonable adjustments and ccommodations can be implemented in accordance with The Disability Standards for Education 2005.
When a student with a funded disability (e.g., Autism) is enrolled at a school, the school is eligible to apply for schools plus funding or special education funding from individual state-based Departments of Education and federally through the Individual Disability Allocation (IDA) and Nationally Consistent Collection of Data for Students with a Disability (NCCD), via their individual system dependant on what type of school they are classified as.
The amount of funding allocated per student is in accordance with their diagnosis and needs. This funding is then dispersed at the schools’ discretion for the purpose of education. A boarding student (24 hours per day, 7 days per week in a school term) receives the same level of funding as a day student.
The boarding house has a duty of care, responsibility, and accountability for the increased needs of a student with a disability. This is inclusive of wellbeing, medical, social, homework/prep education, nutrition, extracurricular school activities such as sports or choir and boarding house excursions, activities, and most of all inclusion to all aspects of boarding regardless of the child’s abilities.
Students with a disability require extra support in their daily lives to reach their full potential. Currently, there is no clarity on whose jurisdiction or agency the needs of a person with a disability fall under in the secondary residential boarding house system.
Access to funding for a person with a disability in a boarding house is not currently provided in any way. For our geographically isolated families, residential boarding is an important continuation of our children’s education.
The relevant bodies included in the shared response to the needs of a person with a disability include the Department of Education, individual state-based government Departments of Social Services and Departments of Education and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).
NOTE: The NDIS is not designed to cover the needs of a child in secondary education residential boarding facilities.
Relevant standards and registrations that cover schools’ compliance to meet the needs of a student with a disability include individual State Registration Standards and Compliance for Non-Government Schools and Government Schools, Boarding Standards for Australian Schools and Residences 2015, and the Disability Standards for Education 2005.
We urge you to pass this motion to support students with disability and to ensure their needs are being met in boarding houses across Australia through the provision of funding that offers an equal and inclusive opportunity to education.
