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Supporting Students With Communication Impairment in Australian Schools: Administering the Obligation to Make Reasonable Adjustment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 May 2019

Elizabeth Dickson Open the ORCID record for Elizabeth Dickson [Opens in a new window]
Elizabeth Dickson*
Affiliation:
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
*
Corresponding author. Email: e.dickson@qut.edu.au
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Abstract

In this article, I address the problem that education support for students with communication impairment may be delivered in an inconsistent manner within schools, or school systems, exposing affected students to harm and affected schools to the risk of litigation. Analysis of relevant Australian disability discrimination legislation and related case law demonstrates that there is a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustment for students with communication impairment and that a fair and equitable system may be postulated to administer that obligation. The Australian Government has recently committed to a needs-based funding model for Australian schools but further work needs to be done to establish how resources that flow to schools under that model should best be applied. This article aims to provide some guidance to those who will make decisions within schools about the management of the sometimes scarce and often expensive support resources for students with communication impairment.

Keywords

communication impairmentreasonable adjustmentAustralian law
Type
Original Articles
Information
Australasian Journal of Special and Inclusive Education , Volume 43 , Issue 1 , July 2019 , pp. 41 - 53
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2019 

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Footnotes

†

This manuscript was accepted under the Editorship of Umesh Sharma.

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