MEDIA RELEASE
MOST STATE AND TERRITORY EDUCATION MINISTERS
VOTE AGAINST DISABILITY STANDARDS
11 July, 2003 MINCO 7/03
Students with disabilities and their parents will be dismayed by
the failure of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment,
Training and Youth Affairs to agree today to implement the
Disability Standards for Education.
Only the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmanian Education
Ministers voted with the Commonwealth to move to introduce the
Standards.
The Commonwealth will therefore move unilaterally to implement
the Standards to eliminate discrimination and ensure successful
learning outcomes for students with disabilities and their parents.
The implementation of the Standards has been discussed for seven
years. They have been delayed because some jurisdictions claim to be
unsure of and/or afraid to acknowledge, their responsibilities to
Australia’s almost 200,000 students with disabilities. These
students need to be assured of their right to participate in
education and training on the same basis as other students.
The States and Territories offer wildly different assessments of
the impact on their budgets of implementing the standards. New South
Wales claims it will cost $1.8 billion and Victoria $1.4 billion to
comply with the Standards, but South Australia claims just $19.4
million, Western Australia $15.8 million and Tasmania $2.2 million.
New South Wales claims it will need an additional 43,000 staff,
equivalent to 69% of their current funding. However, the ACT does
not agree it will cost anything more in that jurisdiction.
For more than seven years the Commonwealth has led the
development of these Standards, consulting extensively with
jurisdictions, non-government education and training providers and
other stakeholders, most importantly the disability sector. I
congratulate the DDA Standards Project, which represents the
disability sector, for their strong contribution to the Standards.
An independent cost-benefit analysis, ‘Net Impact of the
Introduction of the Disability Standards for Education’, has found
that the benefits of the Standards far outweigh their costs. The
study also found that for providers who are compliant with the
Disability Discrimination Act, 1992 the costs of complying with
the Standards would be marginal.
The Report of the Senate Employment, Workplace Relations and
Education References Committee on Education of Students with
Disabilities, released in December 2002, was strongly critical
of the failure of the States, Territories and Commonwealth to reach
agreement on standards for education and urged the Commonwealth to
act unilaterally to bring into force the standards provided for in
the Disability Discrimination Act, 1992 (DDA).
The MCEETYA’s failure to agree to act on the standards is a sorry
day for equality of educational opportunity.
A copy of the draft Standards and a copy of the report Net
Impact of the Introduction of the Disability Standards for Education
can be found at
www.dest.gov.au/edu/gen_ed_pubs.htm
News Editors note:
Dr Nelson will be available for interview with Graham
Smith, who uses a wheelchair, today 1.00pm Perth time, 3.00pm (AEST)
Sterling Room, Parmelia Hilton, Mill Street, Perth
Media Contact
Dr Nelson’s Office: Ross Hampton 0419 484 095
Dept of Education, Science & Training: Laila Lacis 0412
040 034
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