Education and learning
Outcome: People with disability achieve their full potential through education and learning
Why is this outcome area important?
Participation in education, both formal and informal, is critical to developing skills and providing pathways for people with disability to find fulfilling employment and gain financial independence. Education can lead to enhanced general wellbeing and enriched lives (Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031).
The Disability Standards for Education 2005 clarify the obligations for education and training providers to ensure that students with disability can access and participate in education on the same basis as students without disability (Department of Education 2021).
Under the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Australia has an obligation to ensure an inclusive education system and lifelong learning that enables the full development of human potential, sense of dignity and self-worth, and the strengthening of human rights, freedoms, and diversity. This also includes providing persons with disabilities the opportunity to develop their personality, talents, creativity and abilities to their full potential and to effectively participate in society (UN 2006).
Missing out on the benefits of education affects job prospects, wages and job satisfaction. It can influence decisions and behaviour that negatively affect health and participation in a connected and fulfilling life (Lamb & Huo 2017).
What are the policy priorities?
- Participation in early childhood education: Helping children with disability to be ready to start school.
- Participation in school education: Supporting students with disability to finish high school.
- Participation in tertiary education: Supporting people with disability to participate in and complete additional education after high school.
- Participation in informal education (life skills): Supporting people with disability to continue to learn life skills.
Measures
For 3 of the 4 policy priorities under this outcome area, data are available for 3 system measures and 4 population measures (Table 6.1). Since the 2nd annual report, historical data has been updated for one measure and post-baseline data has been updated for the first time for 4 measures.
All 7 measures have updated post-baseline data where:
- 4 showed improving
- 2 showed no change
- one showed regress.
For future measures requiring development, see Future measures.
| Policy priority | Measure | Baseline time point | Baseline value | Latest time point | Latest value | Change since baseline(a) | Progress status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Participation in early childhood education | Proportion of children enrolled in a preschool program in the year before full-time schooling (YBFS) who have disability, compared with proportion of children aged 4 to 5 years who have disability in the community* (system measure) | 2021 2018 | 6.2% 7.6% | 2023 2018 | 7.1% 7.6% | 0.9 pp n.a. | Improving |
Participation in school education | Proportion of people with disability who completed Year 10* (or equivalent) (population measure) | 2018 | 85.5% | 2022 | 90.2% | 4.7 pp | Improving |
Participation in school education | Proportion of people with disability who completed Year 12* (or equivalent) (population measure) | 2018 | 45.5% | 2022 | 57.8% | 12.3 pp | Improving |
Participation in tertiary education | Proportion of VET students with disability (aged 15–64) (system measure) | 2021 | 4.4% | 2022 | 4.1% | –0.3 pp | No change |
Participation in tertiary education | Proportion of undergraduate higher education students with disability (system measure) | 2021 | 10.2% | 2022 | 11.5% | 1.3 pp | No change |
Participation in tertiary education | Qualification completion rate for VET students aged 15–64 with disability, compared with students without disability (population measure) | Cohort | 40.0% 46.3% | Cohort 2018–2022 | 41.7% 49.0% | 1.0 pp increase in gap | Regress |
Participation in tertiary education | Proportion of students with disability who complete a higher education qualification (population measure) | Cohort | 50.6% | Cohort 2017–2022 | 54.6% | -0.3 pp | No change |
*Measure wording has been revised to reflect available data more accurately or clarify the measure’s intent. See relevant measure section below for more information (See Appendix B: List of measures). Back to content
n.a. – not available; pp – percentage points; VET – vocational education and training.
- n.a. indicates that there has not been an additional data point post-baseline to enable an assessment of progress. Back to content
Department of Education (2021) Disability Standards for Education 2005, Department of Education website, Australian Government, accessed 1 September 2023.
Lamb S and Huo S (2017) Counting the costs of lost opportunity in Australian education, Mitchell Institute, Melbourne, doi: 10.422/80/591e74a01d950, accessed 19 July 2024.
UN (2006) ‘Article 24 – Education’, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UN, accessed 19 July 2024.
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