4June2015

DSE

EconomicandSocialAdvisory

Urbis

Level12,120CollinsSt

MELBOURNE,VICTORIA3000

DearReviewTeam

2015 REVIEW OF THE DISABILITY STANDARDS FOR EDUCATION2005

WewelcomeanopportunitytocommentonthereviewoftheDisabilityStandardsforEducation(DSE).

TheNorthernTerritoryAnti-DiscriminationCommission(NTADC)is establishedundertheAnti-DiscriminationAct(ADA).Oneofitsrolesis totakecomplaintsfromindividualsaboutdisabilitydiscriminationinthe educationsystemintheNorthernTerritory.TherightssetoutintheAct arebroad,encompassingawiderangeofdisabilitiesandcoveringthe entireeducationcyclefromselection/enrolment throughtoexpulsion/graduation andincludingalllevelsofeducation.

LMB22 GPO, DarwinNT0801

Floor 7,9-11CavenaghStreet,DarwinNT0800

Web:

E-mail:

Telephone:0889991444

Freecall:1800813846

TTY:0889991466

Fax: 0889813812

WhilecompliancewiththeDSEintheNorthernTerritoryisrequiredby theDisabilityDiscriminationAct,thestandardsprovideaclear frameworktoargueundertheADAwhatisorisnotreasonablefora studentwithadisabilitythatrequiresaccommodation.

Itisourexperiencethatthestandardsprovideaclearandeffectivetool forparentsandcarerstoadvocateonbehalfofstudentswithadisability. Theyalsoprovideaframeworkforparents/carersandeducatorsin disputetonegotiatewhatsupportastudentwithadisabilitymayrequire. OurobservationfromcomplaintswereceiveisthatuseoftheDSEis moreprevalentintheprimaryandsecondarylevelsofeducation,than theTertiarylevel.

TheDSEremainsavalidandsignificanttoolthatisacriticalpartofthe solutiontoimproveeducationalaccessforindividualslivingwitha disability.Tofurtherimprovethevalueofthestandardswemakethe followingsuggestions.

  1. FurtherexpandingtheaccessibilityfeaturesofDSE,inparticularfor AboriginalandTorresStraitIslandercultures(ATSI)andculturally, religiouslyandlinguisticallydiversecultures.Consideringformats andcontent,including:
  2. Translationofthestandards(oranabridgedversion)intoa rangeofrelevantlanguages.
  3. Accesstothestandards(oranabridgedversion)inanoral andvisualformat,includinginAuslan.
  4. AnEasyEnglishversionofthestandards.
  5. DevelopingaversioninIndigenousEnglish.Suchaversion shouldbedevelopedwithanindigenouslinguisticsexpert

whoisabletoconsiderandaddressthesignificantgapin communicationwhenATSIlanguagesaretranslatedinto English.

  1. Researchonhowtobettercommunicatewithremote

Indigenouscommunities.

  1. RaisingbroaderawarenessintheNorthernTerritoryoftheDSE, particularlyinremoteNorthernTerritory.Ourfeedbackfromparents andcarersisthattheyonlybecomeawareofthestandardsoncein disputewitheducationproviders.LackofawarenessoftheDSEmayprecludetheiruseintheparent/carer/educator relationshipasatooltopreventdisputeandencourageco-operationandsolution focuseddecisionmaking.TheCommissionisastrongsupporterof issuesbeingresolvedattheearliestpossibletimeatthelowest possiblelevel.GreaterawarenessoftheDSEbeforedisputesarise webelievewillreduceconflictandencouragesolutionfocused thinking.
  2. IndevelopinginformationabouttheDSEconsidertheinteractionof theDSEwiththeotherfederaldisabilitystandards,Accessto PremisesandtheDisabilityStandardsforAccessiblePublic Transport.Intheeducationsettingallthreeofthestandardscan anddorelatetoaccesstoeducationforindividualswithadisability. Informationprovidedabouttherightsandobligationsofstudents withadisabilityshouldbeprovidedinthisbroadercontextrather thanexpectingthecommunitytomaketheseconnections themselves.

TheDSEisaneffective,practicaltoolthatcontributestorealchangefor studentslivingwithadisability.Wesupporttheircontinuationandany worktostrengthentheirimpact.

WethanktheReviewTeamforanopportunitytomakecomment.

Anti-DiscriminationCommissioner