The Disability Discrimination Act says it’s against the law to discriminate against someone because of their disability.

The Disability Standards for Education explain what these laws mean for students with a disability. The standards say students with a disability have the same right to take part in their education as students without disabilities.

'Student with a Disability' has been defined as any student who has a physical disability, visual impairment, severe behaviour disorder, intellectual disability, hearing impairment, autism spectrum disorder and/or severe language disorder with critical educational needs.

The ways in which your child's/ren's school is required to support your child varies from State/Territory to State/Territory so it's best to refer to your State/Territory Department of Educations websites. Scroll down to find links to individual States and Territories Education Departments.

The Victorian Government support students via their Student 'Program for Students with Disabilities' (PSD) program which assists schools to meet the needs of eligible students with disability and/or high needs who attend Victorian government schools. The 'supports' referred to is funding for support aids and other necessary resources to assist the child. Schools can refer students for assessments to help them find out if a student is eligible to apply for support under the Program for Students with Disabilities.

The assessment categories are for the child to have an intellectual disability or a severe language disorder with critical educational needs. This criterion has been updated recently as it also included students displaying severe behaviour or conduct (which was extremely difficult to prove). For eligibility and access, cognitive and language assessments for both categories must be completed and all assessments need to be carried out by qualified and fully registered Psychologists and Speech Pathologists.

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) gives Australian schools, parents, guardians and carers, education authorities and the community information about the number of students with a disability in schools and the adjustments they receive.

These schools are sometimes called private schools, independent schools or Catholic schools. They are not part of the government system and have their own enrolment process and costs.

The Australian Education Regulation 2013 requires all schools to report the data collected for the NCCD to the Australian Government on an annual basis.

Learn more about the NCCD here.

Any student with a disability, funded or unfunded has the right to have 'Student Support Group' (SSGs) meetings each term with the school (principal, wellbeing coordinator, teacher and parents) to go over your child’s education and wellbeing needs.

All Autistic children, no matter the 'level' at which they've been diagnosed, has the right to have SSGs as they fall under the 'Student with a Disability' criteria. If a school rejects or refuses a request for SSGs once per term, they are in breach of the Government's Disability Standards for Education.

A school may use the excuse that an 'unfunded' child is ineligible for these measures which are both incorrect and, again, in breach of the Government's Disability Standards for Education.

The Disability Standards for Education also states that schools are required to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to the curriculum to support any student with a disability.

Once again, a school may use the excuse that an 'unfunded' child is ineligible for these measures which are both incorrect and, in breach of the Government's Disability Standards for Education.

These ‘reasonable adjustments’ to the curriculum are also known as an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) or Individual Education Plan (IEP).