A critique of the Disability Royal Commission’s approach and recommendations for educational inclusion in schools

The Disability Royal Commission received evidence of educational exclusion of school students with disabilities, occurring in both overt and covert forms, and of students’ experiences of violence and abuse. According to this evidence and prior research and reports, exclusionary and abusive practices appear to be entrenched in school education in both mainstream and special settings. The relationship between the evidence presented to the Commission and prior inquiries and research is presented with the aim of providing a critique of its approach and recommendations. Highlighted are the contrasting recommendations to either abolish or retain special schools and other segregated school settings. Other recommendations are reviewed to demonstrate how the final recommendations were part of a comprehensive suite of strategies to address long-standing exclusionary practices. Particular attention is given to students with severe-profound intellectual disabilities, who are most likely to be enrolled in or diverted to special schools and segregated units located in mainstream schools. Although the recommendations were comprehensive in addressing key contributors to exclusion, they showed a failure to consider in greater depth prior research and current positive practices of authentic inclusive education. It is argued that the Commission missed the opportunity to draw on research based on models of supports, shared understanding of inclusion, and making use of professionals beyond educators to provide complementary expertise.