Imagine sitting in a classroom where you are different from your peers, because of disability or disabilities. Now, imagine what you would want for yourself. You would want to feel and be treated like every peer in your class. You would want to know at the end of the day, you can achieve an education and go on to forge a career in your chosen profession. This is not always the case.
The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (Disability RC) was opened at the Brisbane Convention Centre on 16 September, with all the gravity and ceremony expected from a royal commission. This royal commission had been fought for by disability bodies and advocates for years.
Those of us in attendance at the first public sitting felt a mix of sadness, anger, fear and hope as we listened to the contextual framing of this royal commission and for the outcomes which will presumably be reached as a consequence of the testimony and submissions from people with disability and their supporters. A multitude of memories from my time in primary, secondary and tertiary education also waded into the forefront of my consciousness when the issues surrounding education were mentioned.
The initial public sittings and submissions are examining disability education and learning in Australia. Australia is meant to have a regulatory position of equitable access and delivery of education across the life span, by virtue of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disability (CRPD). Specifically, Article 24 sets out the requirements for disability education and learning, dictating the practice of equal opportunity to access education without discrimination. The reality, however, is a far cry from the ideals aspired to by Article 24, and the CRPD in its entirety.
The Education and Learning Issues paper issued by the Disability RC identified several barriers to equitable access to education and learning for people with disability in Australia at primary and secondary school: physical and environmental barriers, inaccessibility of materials and communication methods, gatekeeping (formal or informal denial of access to education), partial enrolment (part-time attendance), segregation, exclusion from school activities, suspensions and expulsions.
Many of these barriers continue to exist in tertiary education, with other specific barriers arising in the university context: lack of reasonable adjustments (accommodations to enable equitable participation in education with peers), lack of individualised supports and planning, inflexible curricula, lack of culturally responsive teaching (failing