Education
Call for an inquiry into educational outcomes for students with a disability
Following on from a 2009 forum examining barriers to inclusive education in Victoria, the Inclusive Education Working Group commissioned a report, ‘Inclusive Education: Opportunities for every Victorian child to reach their full potential’.
The report makes recommendations including a call for an inquiry by the Victorian Ombudsman into educational outcomes for students with a disability.
The Inclusive Education Working Group comprises the Disability Discrimination Legal Service, STAR Victoria, Parents Victoria, VCOSS, the Disability Advocacy Resource Unit, and the Association for Children with a Disability.
The Working Group is keen for individuals and organisations who agree that an inquiry should be held, to endorse the report by registering their support. To register your support, send an email to elizabethm@acd.org.au with the following information:
I (name) of (organisation) endorse the recommendations contained in the 'Inclusive Education: Opportunities for Every Victorian Child to Reach their Full Potential' report. Please include your contact phone number and email address.
Download: Inclusive Education- Opportunities for every Victorian child to reach their full potential.doc
STAR Victoria Inc.
SUBMISSION TO INQUIRIES INTO SUPPORTED ACCOMMODATION FOR THOSE WITH DISABILITY AND MENTAL ILLNESS
VALID: Victorian Advocacy League for Individuals with Disability
STAR Victoria Inc. Advocating for people with an intellectual disability and their families.
REINFORCE Inc: Victorian Association of Intellectually Disadvantaged Citizens
AMIDA: Action for More Independence and Dignity in Accommodation
Prepared with the assistance of:
Christine Bigby, School of Social Work and Social Policy, La Trobe University
Ilan Vizel, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne
1. Background
- This submission has been prepared by four advocacy organizations with a specific focus on Victorians with an intellectual disability and their families as a response to the Inquiries into Supported Accommodation for those with Disability and Mental Illness by the Committee of Family and Community Affairs in the Victorian Parliament. The submissions is based on the experiences of our organisations in supporting people with intellectual disability and their families and also draws on Australian and international research, about accommodation and support for people with intellectual disabilities We focus in particular on the extent of unmet need and the implications for people with intellectual disabilities and their families, on the one hand, and congregate-care models of service provision, on the other. We call for extensive and immediate response to unmet need, that is sensitive to the principle of community inclusion, the complexity of factors which determine quality of services and the diversity of the population of people with intellectual disabilities.
- The goals of community inclusion and individual choice are high priorities in the Disability State Plan 2002-2012. We strongly support these goals. However, inclusion and choice cannot be achieved in a service system bedevilled by unmet need that continues to offer institutionalisation or large scale congregate care as residential options for people with intellectual disabilities, and that continues to expect families to wait without hope for much needed support services.
- We emphasise three priority areas for action to overcome barriers to inclusion and choice: a comprehensive response by State Government to unmet need; closure of all state run or funded institutions and congregate care facilities; and, the further development and refinement of a range of housing and support models with particular attention to people with higher levels of support needs, people with challenging behaviours and older people with intellectual disabilities.
Click here to download the entire document.
We are very pleased and proud of the final paper "It's about Will, Skill and Capacity" the Discussion Paper and Proposed Policy Framework on Inclusive Education developed by members of the Inclusive Education Network.
The Inclusive Education Network is an informal network made up of individuals, including parents, educators and advocates, as well as people from a number of organisations from both the disability and education fields, who share a commitment to working together to bring about improvement in policy and practice at both local and systemic levels in regard to inclusive education for all young people, including students with a disability or impairment.
The network grew out of a forum in mid 2005, organised by STAR Victoria ( a state-wide community based advocacy organisation for people with an intellectual disability and their families) in response to an increasing number of calls from families of students with a disability in relation to educational concerns. The aim of this forum was to identify the issues and develop a strategic, proactive and collective approach to addressing them.
STAR VICTORIA INC.
Advocating for people with intellectual
Disability and their families
2nd Floor, Ross House,
247-251 Flinders Lane
Melbourne Vic 3000
Ph: 9650 2730 Fax: 9650 6972
Email: info@starvictoria.org.au
Website: www.starvictoria.org.au
