Should ‘special schools’ be shut down?

Sam Hawley: Hi, I’m Sam Hawley, coming to you from Gadigal Land. This is ABC News Daily. For years, disability advocates have fought for an end to so-called special schools. So Australians with a disability can be educated in the mainstream sector. They argue it would change lives immeasurably. The disability royal commission has failed to reach a consensus over whether segregated education should be phased out over the next three decades. Today, national disability affairs reporter, Nas Campanella, on the complexities of the arguments, and what will change now the four-year royal commission is complete.

Nas take me to that moment on Friday when the royal commission findings after four long years are handed down. Just reflect on that moment for me.

Nas Campanella: It was a big moment. It was a huge day. I mean, a massive milestone for the disability community. And I think someone described it really beautifully. Advocate Nicole Lee from People with Disability Australia when she said it was a day of of grief but also pride.

Nicole Lee, People with Disability Australia: It is a day where we reflect on everything that we gave to get that royal commission on the national agenda. The stories that we told and today is the day where we look at shifting from the interpersonal violence, the, you know, the individual experience of violence into the next phase of advocacy and activism.

Sam Hawley: So, this process, it took four years, as we said, 32 public hearings with evidence from 837 witnesses. It received almost 8,000 submissions. And as it’s massive and there were 222 recommendations. And we, of course, cannot focus on all of them. But let’s have a look at segregated education first. Now, just tell me, what is the difference between segregated or so-called ‘special schooling’ and mainstream schooling? Just explain that.

Nas Campanella: So segregated or special schools is where kids with disability are educated in a separate school altogether and there are no kind of non-disabled people there. And some people would argue in those settings they don’t get access to the regular curriculum. That’s the argument that some people would have mainstream. Obviously, you know, people with disability would be in mixed classes with mixed kids. There’s also some schools where there are sort of specialised units, I guess, for kids with disability in mainstream education. But more or less segregation is the separation of disabled and non-disabled students. Okay, let’s look at what the Royal Commission has talked about. So in this recommendation, what is very clear from all six commissioners is that the status quo cannot continue. That is this total separation of disabled and non-disabled students. There was division between the commissioners, 3 to 3 split on the approaches to this. Now, three of the commissioners, including two with disability, Rhonda Galbally and Alastair McEwan, say that they want milestones, including no new enrolments to special schools by 2032 to eventually phase out this segregated education by 2051. Now, the other three are talking about a – I guess-  arguably a softer approach to this, where there are no deadlines in place, but where practical, students or special schools be relocated into mainstream schools or near to mainstream schools, and the relationships between the two systems be stronger to allow for students to interact and integrate together.

Sam Hawley: The WA Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John. He was instrumental in pushing for this royal commission. He was on Insiders reflecting on the recommendation that segregated schools should be phased out over 30 years.

Jordon Steele-John, WA Greens Senator: Well, 30 years is wildly inadequate, David. To put that in perspective, that would mean that a disabled child born today would be likely to see their child educated in a separated, segregated setting. And that is lonely, that is abusive, that is unacceptable. And so what the Greens have been…

Sam Hawley: So why is it important that people with a disability are educated in the mainstream system?

Nas Campanella: I’ve had the experience of both special school and mainstream personally, and for those that don’t know I have multiple disabilities, I am blind and I also have a neurological condition which impacts the sensitivity and muscle tone and balance in my body. And so for me, a special school was absolutely not the right place. I was very quickly transferred from special school into mainstream. And what a lot of people argue is that it gives disabled and non-disabled peers the opportunity to learn, play work and do everything alongside each other. And there’s a very strong argument that and this is supported in research and has been talked about time and time again at the royal commission, that if you are educated in a segregated setting, you are more likely to then go into work in a segregated setting to live in a segregated setting and therefore your entire life be segregated and shut away from mainstream. And there’s also a really strong argument that non-disabled people will learn a lot from working with disabled people. And if we want to change the narrative around the attitudes that non-disabled people have in broader society, where we’ve learnt in this royal commission, the attitudes are not great and are leading to the violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation. Then then this is a way to bridge that gap. There has understandably been some concern and fear from parents because it’s not just special schools that we’re talking about here in phasing out. Some commissioners also want to phase out group homes in 15 years and segregated employment by 2034. And there’s a lot of fear around what will happen. You know, there are some kids who are thriving and are doing well in a special school or some families who would argue that they’ve got their child in a group home and they’re quite happy and it’s working well. And I spoke to Alastair McEwan, one of the commissioners who is deaf, this weekend, and he reflected on he understands that there will be fear and concern.

Nas Campanella: Some families would say their children are happy being at a special school. What would you say to them?

Alastair McEwan, commissioner, disability royal commission: I say, and this is what we heard again and again, it’s not a choice. They were forced into special schools. We need to stop the othering of disabled students and disabled children. We need to stop assuming that they can’t thrive and flourish like any other child.

Nas Campanella: There’s almost a false choice that people have at the moment. It’s a choice between special school or a mainstream school that isn’t inclusive.

Sam Hawley: And this came up, didn’t it, Nas, time and again during the commission hearings? Tell me about Britt Wilson.

Nas Campanella: Yeah, Britt Wilson gave evidence at the royal commission and we have spoken to her this weekend and reflected on her experience of education. She has muscular dystrophy. She’s a wheelchair user, and she talked about, for example, having a teacher’s aide who had to be with her at all times, including lunch and recess. And she said it was hard to make friendships. No one wants to hang out with the girl who’s then hanging out with the teacher.

Britt Wilson, disability advocate: Try being a little kid trying to go out and play and get up to mischief with a constantly hovering over you. Like basically I wasn’t allowed to be a kid because I was constantly monitored. The TAs became kind of a segregation in themselves because no one wanted to be around a teacher.

Nas Campanella: They wouldn’t let her go to the bathroom independently. She felt like she didn’t get the support she needed in the mainstream system, although she’s very, very supportive of people. Absolutely being in the mainstream system still, even after her experience.

Britt Wilson, disability advocate: And we talk about segregated learning and we talk about mainstream, why does there have to be two? Is what I want to know. Why can’t we bring what we have in the support network and the inclusivity into mainstream?

Sam Hawley: And as as you say, there wasn’t consensus on this issue. That’s not ideal, is it? Because education is key? Right.

Nas Campanella: Well, you know, I’ve spoken to some advocates in the last few days since this report came out, and they have said it is not ideal, but also that they’re not surprised. They say that, you know, just listening to the inquiry and listening to the questioning and and the way things are sort of going, they they realised that there would potentially be a split. Also, I think it largely reflects that broader society and I’m talking here about non-disabled people have very different views about disability, the way they think about disability. Consider it, consider how valuable we are in the contributions we make. And I think this split is is kind of reflective of the fact that there is a diverse opinion on disability in the community.

Sam Hawley: And as a reminder, this was a commission into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with a disability in this country. And so some of the evidence that was heard was just incredibly difficult to listen to, wasn’t it was really, really confronting.

Nas Campanella: It was confronting. And I think it’s confronting for a reason because it’s horrific. There’s no doubt about that. I mean, some of the things I can share with you now that will the stories that will never leave me are things like around for sterilisation. You know, there were people who were going into hospital being told they were having their appendix removed and years later finding out that it wasn’t their appendix that was removed, it was their uterus. People who were vision impaired being sterilised and, you know, I mean, as a vision impaired person who has just had a baby that will never leave me. And I think, you know, there are some recommendations in this report that speak to that. And it really does, you know, talk about the fact that there should be, you know, a prohibition on on sterilisation or forced sterilisation and that you shouldn’t be sterilising on the basis of disability.

Sam Hawley: Let’s look at the government response to this royal commission. How will the recommendations be implemented and how quickly? I think that’s probably key.

Nas Campanella: So we heard from the Social Services Minister, Amanda Rishworth, and the NDIS Minister Bill Shorten, on Friday when this report dropped and the response was to to set up a taskforce to coordinate the Government’s response basically to to all of these 222 recommendations.

Amanda Rishworth, Minister for Social Services: The taskforce will coordinate the Australian Government’s response, particularly focused on the recommendations that are directed towards the Commonwealth. This work will be done in close consultation with the disability community and stakeholders.

Nas Campanella: They’ve dedicated $4.25 million over two years to do that. And there will be a progress report early next year on how that’s going.

Bill Shorten, Minister for the NDIS: I do see this as a moment of national unity. I do see this as a moment where we can paint the horizon for people with disability in Australia.

Sam Hawley: And of course, there’s so much to this. It’s a huge review, so many recommendations. But what do you think needs. Is this a turning point? Does it bring you hope?

Nas Campanella: I think it’s safe to say that this community of 4.4 million Australians, you know, 20 per cent of the population, and that doesn’t include all the people that sit around us, our families, our support workers, our allies, our advocates. So this actually affects a huge number of the population. But I think it’s safe to say this community is the reason this royal commission was brought about in the first place. And this community will be what keeps the accountability to the recommendations. They will not be quiet, I can assure you of that. And they will keep the pressure on. And so, you know, they don’t want the pain and trauma of the last four and a half years that people have bravely dredged up and discussed and shared with the broader community to be for nothing. So they will put the pressure on to make sure that accountability is seen and heard.

Sam Hawley: Nas Campanella is the ABC’s National Disability Affairs Reporter. This episode was produced by Bridget Fitzgerald and Sam Dunn, who also did the mix. Our supervising producer is David Coady. I’m Sam Hawley. To get in touch with the team, please email us on ABC News Daily at abc.net.au. Thanks for listening.