Victorian children with disability continue to experience discrimination, exclusion and disadvantage in mainstream government schools. Those are the findings of a new report from Monash University’s Castan Centre for Human Rights Law. The Improving Educational Outcomes for Children with Disability in Victoria report was launched last Friday, made possible by pro bono legal assistance from law firm Colin Biggers & Paisley.

The report is based on almost 100 interviews with parents, former students, school staff and others, as well as a detailed review of relevant laws and policies. It also includes more than 30 recommendations designed to improve the educational experience for children with disabilities.

Lawyers from CBP’s Victoria, NSW and Queensland offices worked together with the Castan Centre on this project. Amanda Cefai, Special Counsel Colin Biggers & Paisley was one of them.

“It was an honour to be able to offer pro bono assistance to the Castan Centre in the great work they have undertaken in launching their report, which highlights the significant and unfortunate issues all too often faced by students with a disability in the education system,” Amanda said.

CBP Foundation – incorporating the firm’s pro bono practice – has a strategic focus on the rights of women and children, and an existing partnership with the Castan Centre, making this research a good fit for the firm’s lawyers.

The report’s findings highlight disability discrimination, specifically in education, as an area of unmet legal need.

“Protecting and promoting children’s rights to education is something that many would think is not necessary to do in Australia,” said Karen Iles, Director Pro Bono & Responsible Business at CBP. “But as this important research from the Castan Centre shows, there are real issues regarding the rights of children with disabilities accessing the education system in Victoria.”

Discrimination faced by people living with disability has been in the spotlight in recent weeks, with a special panel aired on the ABC’s Q&A and coverage of the issue in The Age occurring the same week that the report was launched at CBP’s Melbourne office.

According to Sarah Joseph, Director of the Castan Centre, while the Victorian Government has taken positive steps in recent years to improve educational outcomes for students with disability, shortcomings persist, potentially breaching children’s rights under Victorian and Commonwealth human rights and anti-discrimination laws.

Hurdles faced by children with disability and their parents include difficulties getting enrolled in school, segregation in the classroom and the limited capacity of teachers to cater for these students’ needs.

“Children with disability have the right to access a quality education on the same basis as their peers without disability,” Professor Joseph said. “The Victorian government – and government schools – are legally responsible for realising these rights, but our research shows that too often the system is letting children and their families down.”

The Castan Centre and CBP are hopeful that the recommendations made in the report will be adopted by the Victorian Government, leading to better access to education for children living with disability.

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Read the full Improving Educational Outcomes for Children with Disability in Victoria report here.

Read this article in The Age about the experience of parents of children living with disability.

See the ABC’s Q&A episode on living with disability here.

See CBP’s media release about the report here.