Special schools to stay despite calls for

their closure

September 2024 Federal NDIS Minister Bill Shorten said he doesn’t accept all students in special schools are struggling. This comes despite disability advocates calling for the schools to be phased out. The inquiry’s two commissioners wrote, as part of their recommendations, that segregated education prevented inclusive education. However, Minister Shorten said he backed families having a choice in deciding whether the mainstream system was best for their child. In response to the Disability Royal Commission’s recommendation that special schools be phased by out by the end of 2051, the government did not commit to implementing it. Disability advocates have expressed extreme disappointment at the government’s response to the inquiry, with only 13 of the 222 recommendations having been accepted in full.

Greek Tribune Adelaide, South Australia