TRANSCRIPT
FAMILYANDCOMMUNITYDEVELOPMENTCOMMITTEE
InquiryintosocialinclusionandVictorianswithadisability
Melbourne— 3 March 2014
Members
MrsA. Coote / MrD. O’BrienMsB. Halfpenny / MsD. Ryall
MrJ. Madden
Chair: MsD. Ryall
Deputy Chair: MsB. Halfpenny
Staff
Executive Officer: DrJ. BushResearch Officer: MsV. Finn
Administrative Officer: Ms N. Tyler
Witnesses
MrS. Kent, deputy secretary, strategy and review group,
MrM. Tainsh, director, disability and inclusion,
MsC. Kelly, executive director, student inclusion and engagement division, and
MsP. Procter, director, early childhood programs and partnerships, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
TheCHAIR— On behalf of the committee, welcome. I remind witnesses that all evidence taken by this committee is taken under the provisions of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003, attracts parliamentary privilege and is protected from judicial review. Any comments made outside the precincts of this hearing are not protected by parliamentary privilege. All evidence given today is being recorded, and witnesses will be provided with proofs of transcript. Please note that this hearing is not being broadcast. I call on MrKent to give a brief presentation of no more than 15minutes. Then I will open it up to members to pose questions.
MrKENT— Thank you for the opportunity to appear here today. I open by saying that the services that the department offers are clearly very central to the social inclusion of Victorians with a disability. Indeed, there is not much that you could say that the department does for and with Victorians with a disability that does not contribute to their social inclusion, either through participation in the service itself or through the skills and opportunities that it gives those people to then participate in the world of work and the world of life that follows their engagement with the early childhood education and skills systems.
Page2 of our handout shows that the majority of children, young people and adult learners with a disability in Victoria are engaged through universal mainstream settings.That is the default approach, the preferred way of engaging Victorians with a disability in education and training settings. We are committed to building a community that embraces diversity and inclusion.
We— like, I suppose, society— have been part of a major transition in the way in which people with a disability participate in society and in services. Over the last two to three decades in particular that is moving much more fully towards one of inclusion. It is not a complete journey, by any means, but it is one that has been very positive for people with a disability in engaging much more fully with mainstream services. In doing so we have taken the approach that we deal with individual needs and strengths, as we do for all people using our service system.Being a universal service system, we engage with a range of different needs and we are not focusing on the deficits that are there; instead we are looking at the needs and strengths.
Moving to slide2, we have a range of programs and supports available, as I say, starting with broad universal, mainstream supports and working through to more targeted assistance. The broad supports and programs that serve most Victorians with a disability are the mainstream services, and therefore the key is the workforce capacity of the people working within our services to be able to meet the needs of those Victorians. That is importantly complemented by a significant further investment of more than $700million per year in the eight major DEECD targeted programs that you see listed there at the bottom of slide3.
When we look at young people and adult learners who are accessing governmentsubsidised training, the approach here is as it is for all Victorians -through the Victorian Training Guarantee. Victorians with a disability can access governmentsubsidised training that meets their needs according to their eligibility requirements, and importantly all providers of training in Victoria are subject to the requirements to make reasonable adjustments to assist students with a disability.
There are, built into the Victorian Training Guarantee, financial incentives for training providers to support students through to completion, as they receive funding in arrears based on the proportion of the training that is undertaken. The important closing of the loop with that system is close monitoring of the training market. Through the quarterly training market update that is published, and through the work of the department we closely monitor the participation of Victorians with a disability in training.
If I go now to the more specific actions of the department, last year we launched the DEECD Disability Action Plan 2013–2016. This is a nested document, if you like, sitting within the national disability strategy and the state disability plan. This is our department’s contribution to meeting those aspirations and goals and the directions that have been set there. It is very closely aligned with both those documents, and in particular under the state disability plan I think it would be fair to say that there is a particularly strong role for DEECD to play in goal1— a strong foundation in life. We obviously have a role across the other elements as well, but that is where you would expect to see the bulk of our effort and our contribution to outcomes for Victorians with a disability. Our disability action plan demonstrates the important contribution that this department can make in improving the outcomes of people with a disability and ensuring their full participation.
I go now to slide6, which lists the 12strategies from the Victorian state disability plan. I will not talk you through all of those right now. They are obviously available to you, and I certainly will not talk you through the 85individual actionsthat sit under those 12strategies, but I am happy to take questions on any of those.
So I will move to a sectoral view, on slide7, of the department’s contribution to the needs of, particularly, young children. In Victoria there are just over 440000children aged zero to five. Of those, almost 73000 will be funded to participate in a kindergarten program. Further, approximately 13600 will be supported through early childhood intervention services. The 10800places that are available there include 500additional places from October last year that were announced in last year’s budget. We also have just over 1000young people with highdisability support needs who will receive additional support through the kindergarten inclusion support packages, and we also support another 5600children with additional needs through the preschool field officer program.
Under the disability action plan, in some of the key actions— as I said, I will not go through all of them— there is a strong focus on lifting the capability of services. So under the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework, which applies to all early years settings, there are practice principles relating to equity and diversity. Importantly, setting high expectations for every child is so critical in achieving outcomes for young people. We have the ongoing review of the ECIS program guidelines to ensure that it is evidence based to support meaningful participation, and we have resourcing and advice around inclusion practices. Again, there is as strong a focus throughout, as you can see, on resources and materials as there is in the transitiontoschool category there to ensure that the range of services across the state are able to better meet the needs of young people with a disability.
We move to schools and in the first instance government schools. Of the 1529government schools enrolling about 550000students we estimate that about 15per cent, or approximately 80000 students, have a disability as defined by the DDA. Four per cent of students are considered to have a disability and moderate to high needs. They are therefore supported through the program for students with disabilities, and about half of these attend our 78specialist schools. The other half are in mainstream schools. It is not on the slide, but there are around 11700students in nongovernment schools who are funded by the state and/or commonwealth governments to support their needs in those nongovernment schools. There are about 9000 in Catholic schools and just over 2500 in independent schools that are supported.
Again, in the key actions in promoting social inclusion in school settings the common theme is workforce support and capacity building, so we have online learning resources for school staff, early childhood professionals, statefunded kindergarten providers and parents about the implications of the disability standards.
We also have ABLES— the Abilities Based Learning and Education Support resource— available to both government and nongovernment schools. This is really critical to improve assessment, curriculum, teaching and reporting so that there is progress being monitored, understood and objectives being set for all children. There is the planning successful transitions for children on the autism spectrum disorder listed there and the Inclusion Online professional learning modules for Victorian government schools.
We move now to VET. There are many pathways for Victorians through VET. I have highlighted VETiS and the Learn Local sector - or the adult and community education sector. Importantly, in 2012, of the approximately 510000learners who were in governmentsubsidised training, there were 40000 who were identified as having a disability, and this was a 68per cent increase on 2008. So in that four years it was up by 68per cent in governmentsubsidised training.
TheCHAIR— Excuse me, MrKent, just so we keep to time, are you able to summarise the remainder of your presentation?
MrKENT— I will pick up the pace. The link there, importantly, is at the bottom of the page. Sixtyfive per cent of those 40000Victorians were in a certificateIII or above. This was up from 61per cent four years earlier, so the numbers are up and the level of the qualification is also up.
I will skip over the next slide. You have it there. It is about the resources that we provide to support VET providers in supporting Victorians with a disability. Finally, I will say that the department is doing further work to build on this, and it is looking at future reforms. A key action in the department’s strategic plan for 2013–17 is the development of a new strategy which is aimed, importantly, at better integrating the services that we have across the sectors that we are responsible for. That is integration between early childhood, schools and postschool destinations so that we can provide more seamless and sustainable provision and support. That work is still in relatively early stages, but there are some important discussions going on within the department about that at the moment. Again, it is focused on building the capacity of the system across all of the sectors.
TheCHAIR— Thank you. I have a question. Just in relation to the context of social inclusion in education, how does the department define that in the context of education?
MrKENT— I am not sure there is a single definition to answer that question. Perhaps Mark would like to respond.
MrTAINSH— The department, in the last 30years, across the education jurisdictions, and the Victorian community has gone on a journey, and that journey has gone from the exclusion of people who are seen only as having medical and health conditions to theories of integration to inclusion. The department’s current paradigm would be one of diversity and inclusion for students with disabilities, and it begins with the statement that they are part of the rich diversity of the Victorian and Australian community, and so too are schools. Every child in every school is part of that diversity. We start from that with the understanding that, where possible, we build universalising cultures and provisions for all children based on the fact that schools have a public responsibility to nurture and to do best for all, and then we make those adjustments where they become necessary by focusing on personalised learning and support. We do not start with a deficit approach. We say that all children have needs and some children have specific needs, and according to the nature of that need we make finer and finer gradations of adjustment. So we accept that there is disability, but we think that it is important to start from the basis that all children have rights and needs, and we should start meeting those universally met provisions and where necessary target up.
MsHALFPENNY— Before I get onto my main question, I just have a query. Is secondary school funding included in the slide that talks about the 550000students? You talked about kindergarten and funding for extra support and it looked like it was in primary school. I do not know where the secondary school is.
MrKENT— The biggest sources of funding would, first of all, be through the Student Resource Package, as for all students——
MsHALFPENNY— The money per student? The $7000 or whatever it is?
MrKENT— Yes.The money per student that goes to every school.And then for those eligible and in need of that level of adjustment, the program for students with disabilities applies across primary and secondary.
MsHALFPENNY— So there are 440000children with a disability from 0 to 5.
MrKENT— No.There are 440000children in that age range.
MsHALFPENNY— That was what I was not sure about. You then talk about who is funded. Is that the total number of children with a disability?
MrKENT— No.Our estimate is at 15per cent, a little lower than the Victorian population as a whole given that there is a significant portion of disability that is related to ageing. So the nature of the population within our settings is going to be a little lower. Some of those may not need any particular adjustment at all; the nature of the universal service meets their needs because of those inclusions——
MsHALFPENNY— And is that based on an assessment of the individual or because there is a cutoff for the funding?
MrKENT— It is an assessment of the individual. A child with a physical disability in a school that is highly accessible may need no additional adjustment. There are a range of impairments and disabilities for which mainstream service is able to meet the needs of the child and no additional funding is required beyond what they do receive as a Victorian child.
MsHALFPENNY— Right. The next one is 550000 students. That is primary and secondary?
MrKENT— That is primary and secondary in government schools.
MsHALFPENNY— That makes sense. I was just going to ask something about the separate specialist school versus integration within the mainstream school. I know there are various arguments about which one should apply. In terms of the education department, do you assess where the child should go, or is it up to the parent? What do you say is the best?
MrKENT— The overriding approach is the one that we take for all children in Victoria, which is one of choice— trying to maximise choice and meet the needs of the children and the desires of their parents. I do not know whether Carol or Mark want to add to that.
MrTAINSH— I would start by saying that the vast majority of children and young people with a disability are in mainstream schools. It is important to state that specialist schools are targeted particularly at those students who have what we might call moderate to high needs; for instance, there are specialist schools for intellectual disability or for ASD. We are in a position where we believe parents need to make the choice and they need to make it from a level playing ground. We have a highquality mainstream as well as specialist, but we would not generally be putting children into an intellectual disability school who did not have one, so while there is parent choice there are some restrictive criteria for specialist schools. It would not be appropriate to have a child who basically had dyslexia put into an intellectual disability school.
However, within that framework if your child meets that particular disability and level of need, then the parent makes the choice. We would like to think the parent makes the choice for the least restricted environment and does so on a level playing field, so it is the quality of the entire schooling system. It is not a duality in the Victorian system between specialist schools and mainstream. There are a number of provisions that are set between those, including satellite units, inclusion support programs and assisted support such as Manor Lakes school. It is not polarised.
MsHALFPENNY— I am just thinking of my experience in my electorate. There is a state school, Moomba Park Primary School. In the normal state school there is a perhaps a little bit of extra funding for an aide and so forth for students who have higher needs. Moomba Park Primary School has a program where they have a number of consultants who work with teachers. It is an additional resource. I think that schools and teachers are expected to do everything— they need to provide support and help and everything like that— for whatever is wrong in society. One of the arguments is that they cannot do everything without resources. I know that Moomba Park Primary School has had pilot funding for a program in which consultants work with each teacher in terms of professional development as well as within the school, not necessarily as aides but as professional teachers with special qualifications. Are you aware of that program and how it is working in terms of outcomes for the children?