Christian Schools Australia has welcomed the Opposition’s commitment today to provide full portability of funding for students with severe disabilities. “This is unambiguously good news. It addresses a glaring injustice and will be welcomed across the country,” said CEO Stephen O’Doherty.

CSA has urged successive governments to implement the policy that for students with disabilities, it is the level of their need that should determine the funding available to them, not their choice of school.

“The measure announced today endorses that policy. It would cement the principle that students with disabilities are entitle to have the same support wherever they go to school, by creating a nexus between the student, their level of need and their entitlement to a certain level of funding to meet that need.

The Coalition’s commitment, creating an ‘Education Card,’ commences with students with severe disability, and will be phased in for students in other categories of need over two terms of government.

“Obviously we would prefer that all students with disabilities could be included in the plan immediately, and we urge the Coalition to bring their timetable forward. We acknowledge however the significant funding issues involved and consider the Opposition to be genuine in its promise that as debt is reduced and the deficit addressed the Education Card will be extended..

“At present, funding support for students with a disability depends on their school setting, with students in non-government schools receiving significantly less support than those in government schools. It also differs from state to state.

“The present variation in support funding is by no means trivial: it is not unusual for it to be ten times less than the funding they would be entitled to in a government school.

“Students with disabilities are denied real choice. As if their families did not face enough difficulty, this adds to the emotional distress and complexity of their situation. There is additional heartache and dislocation for families whose children can not all attend the same school.

“In the case of families for whom school choice involves principles of faith and belief, the lack of equitable funding provides an additional layer of discrimination. This is an appalling injustice that cannot be allowed to continue,” Mr O’Doherty said. 

For more on this issue see our campaign page: Real change for students with a disability

The announcement follows a commitment given by Christopher Pyne at the Christian Schools National Policy Forum in May, “that if the Coalition is elected, our commitment would be that students with disability should have exactly the same support, from government, whether it is state or federal government or a combination of both, and whether they choose a non-government or government school. (May 26 2010)”