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Introduction
Some students with disability may need additional support to help them participate in education. Not all who need support receive it.
Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers
Data in this section are largely sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) 2018 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC). The SDAC is the most detailed and comprehensive source of disability prevalence in Australia.
The SDAC considers that a person has disability if they have at least 1 of a list of limitations, restrictions or impairments, which has lasted, or is likely to last, for at least 6 months and restricts everyday activities.
The limitations are grouped into 10 activities associated with daily living—self-care, mobility, communication, cognitive or emotional tasks, health care, reading or writing tasks, transport, household chores, property maintenance, and meal preparation. The SDAC also identifies 2 other life areas in which people may experience restriction or difficulty as a result of disability—schooling and employment.
The severity of disability is defined by if a person needs help, has difficulty, or uses aids or equipment with 3 core activities—self-care, mobility, and communication—and is grouped for mild, moderate, severe, and profound limitation. People who ‘always’ or ‘sometimes’ need help with 1 or more core activities are referred to in this section as ‘people with severe or profound disability’.
What is meant by school and non-school students?
In this section:
- school student refers to children aged 5–18 living in households who attend primary or secondary school
- non-school student refers to people aged 15–64 living in households who are studying for a non-school qualification, for example at university, technical and further education (TAFE), or other non-school educational institutions like business colleges and industry skills centres.
Education restrictions
People with disability who have specific restrictions related to school or non-school education can face additional challenges participating in education.
What are schooling and education restrictions?
An education restriction means a person needs some support or supervision to go to school or to study.
In the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC), a person's overall level of education restriction is determined by their highest level of limitation. Education restrictions include schooling and non-school educational restrictions.
Schooling restriction levels
Profound—the person's condition prevents them from attending school.
Severe—the person:
- attends a special school or special classes
- receives personal assistance
- receives special tuition
- receives assistance from a counsellor/disability support person.
Moderate—the person:
- often needs time off from school
- has difficulty at school because of their condition(s)
- has special assessment procedures.
Mild—the person needs:
- a special computer or other special equipment
- special transport arrangements
- special access arrangements
- other special arrangements or support services.
Non-school educational restrictions
Severe—the person receives:
- personal assistance
- special tuition
- assistance from a counsellor/disability support person.
Moderate—the person:
- often needs time off from school/institution
- has difficulty at school/institution because of their condition(s)
- has special assessment procedures.
Mild—the person needs:
- a special computer or other special equipment
- special transport arrangements
- special access arrangements
- other special arrangements or support services.
Not all students with disability have an education restriction and a person’s level of education restriction may differ from their level of limitation in other life areas.
School students (primary and secondary)
Around 4 in 5 (80% or 305,000) school students aged 5–18 with disability have 1 or more schooling restrictions (Table PARTICIPATION.1).
The most common restrictions are to:
- have difficulty at school (77% or 244,000)
- use special assistance from a person at school (55% or 173,000)
- use special arrangements at school or institution (31% or 98,500)
- attend special classes (21% or 67,000)
- attend a special school (14% or 45,300) (ABS 2019).
Boys with disability (83% or 188,000) are more likely than girls (76% or 118,000) to have schooling restrictions. Boys with schooling restrictions are:
- more likely (24% or 46,500) than girls (17% or 20,500) to attend special classes
- more likely (15% or 29,500) than girls (10% or 12,500) to attend a special school
- less likely (11% or 21,900) than girls (16% or 19,900) to need at least 1 day a week off school
- more likely (32% or 62,600) than girls (28% or 34,200) to use special arrangements at school or institution (ABS 2019).
Table PARTICIPATION.1: Whether have schooling restrictions for students(a) with disability, 2018 (%)
|
Whether have schooling restrictions
|
Boys
|
Girls
|
Total
|
|
Have a schooling restriction(b)
|
82.9
|
76.4
|
80.5
|
|
Do not have a schooling restriction
|
17.6
|
23.3
|
19.9
|
|
Total
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
(a) People with disability aged 5–18 living in households and currently attending primary or secondary school.
(b) Includes school students with profound, severe, moderate and mild schooling restrictions. People who do not attend school because of disability were excluded.
Source: ABS 2019; see also Table PTPN1.
Non-school students
Almost 1 in 2 (47% or 88,000) non-school students aged 15–64 with disability have restrictions related to their education (a non-school educational restriction) (Table PARTICIPATION.2).
For those with restrictions, the most common restrictions are to:
- have difficulty at non-school institution (59% or 51,700)
- need at least 1 day a week off (52% or 45,400)
- use special arrangements at institution (33% or 28,600)
- have special assistance from a person at institution (22% or 19,300) (ABS 2019).
Females (48% or 55,100) are more likely than males (41% or 30,900) to have non-schooling educational restrictions. Females with restrictions are more likely (57% or 31,400) than males (47% or 14,500) to need at least 1 day a week off (ABS 2019).
Table PARTICIPATION.2: Whether have non-school educational restrictions for students(a) with disability, 2018 (%)
|
Whether have non-school educational restrictions
|
Males
|
Females
|
Total
|
|
Have a non-school educational restriction(b)
|
40.9
|
48.5
|
47.2
|
|
Do not have a non-school educational restriction
|
55.0
|
51.9
|
53.3
|
|
Total
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
(a) People with disability aged 15–64 living in households and currently studying a non-school qualification.
(b) Includes non-school students with severe, moderate and mild non-school educational restriction.
Note: Figures are rounded and components may not add to total because of ABS confidentiality and perturbation processes.
Source: ABS 2019; see also Table PTPN3.
Difficulties experienced
Some people with disability experience difficulties at their school or educational institution, such as learning, fitting in socially and communicating.
School students (primary and secondary)
Not all school students with disability have difficulty at their school—over 1 in 3 (36% or 135,000) do not. Some who have no difficulty have a schooling restriction (16% or 61,200) while others do not (20% or 75,500).
Of those who have difficulty, the most common experienced are:
- learning difficulties (68% or 165,000)
- fitting in socially (56% or 137,000)
- communication difficulties (44% or 107,000)
- intellectual difficulties (22% or 53,900)
- sports participation (17% or 41,500)
- difficulty sitting (15% or 37,000) (ABS 2019).
Non-school students
Not all non-school students with disability have difficulty at their educational institution—almost 3 in 4 (74% or 137,000) do not. Some with no difficulty have a non-school educational restriction (19% or 34,800) while others do not (53% or 99,400).
Of those who have difficulty, the most common experienced are:
- learning difficulties (32% or 16,800)
- fitting in socially (25% or 13,000)
- communication difficulties (20% or 10,500) (ABS 2019).
Support needed and provided
Students with disability who experience difficulty in education may need additional support to help them participate. Not all who need support receive it.
School students (primary and secondary)
Most school students with disability (57% or 217,000) receive support at school. Around 2 in 5 (43% or 163,000) do not.
Of those who receive support:
- 3 in 5 (58% or 126,000) have special tuition
- 2 in 5 (41% or 88,200) have a counsellor or disability support person
- 3 in 10 (31% or 67,100) have special assessment procedures (Figure PARTICIPATION.1).
Boys (60% or 136,000) are more likely to receive support than girls (53% or 81,800). Boys who receive support are:
- more likely (61% or 82,600) than girls (56% or 45,600) to receive special tuition
- more likely (16% or 21,600) than girls (9.9% or 8,100) to receive special equipment, including computers
- less likely (35% or 48,000) than girls (49% or 39,700) to have a counsellor or disability support person (Figure PARTICIPATION.1).