Education Minister Sabine Winton refuses to back call to enshrine right to enrol for kids with disability

Education Minister Sabine Winton has refused to say if she will buy into an expert’s opinion that WA’s education system must “enshrine the right to enrol” for kids with disabilities in public schools. She also refused to put a timeline on when a review of the School Education Act, which the Cook Government has had since December, will be released. As revealed by The West Australian, the review’s lead author, autism expert Andrew Whitehouse, indicated in a speech at the weekend that he wanted to see the right to enrol enshrined for kids with disability. WA is the only State where the law restricts enrolment based on whether an “appropriate” educational program is available, which means principals can turn students with disability away if they believe their school cannot accommodate them. Ms Winton would not be drawn on whether that legislation would be changed, saying on Monday that her response would have to wait until the Government releases the review. While she acknowledged the review was an “important piece of work” that she knew many families were waiting on, she would not be rushed. “I will take my time to consider it fully,” she said. “There is a significant amount of work in this area that’s ongoing that I also need to be mindful of. “We’re talking about our response to the Royal Commission into disabilities. We’re talking about the development of our Disability Strategy. And of course, you would know only last week, federal announcements around changes to the NDIS. “So I appreciate people are waiting on this response, but I can also reassure parents in the community, we are getting on with supporting kids with disability. “In this year’s Budget, there was an increase of $395 million. This year alone, $600 million is going to schools to support students with disability.” Ms Winton said she was also focused on supporting schools in “doing things differently” to help students with disability. “Only last week, I announced the trial that starts now for the next four years for connected community schools, because we know schools are becoming increasingly challenged by the more complex needs and the increase in the number of students at school,” she said. Shadow education minister Liam Staltari said Professor Whitehouse’s comments underscored the urgent need for the Government to release the review. “The Government has now sat on the review for well over six months and the families and disability advocates and communities that fed into the process, they’ve been left in limbo,” he said. “We appreciate there will be a process to work through to enact important reforms like this but surely the critical first step is releasing the review so the community can have the next part of this conversation.”