The Disability Standards for Education 2005 clarify the obligations of education and training providers, and seek to ensure that students with disability can access and participate in education on the same basis as students without disability.
The Disability Standards for Education 2005 (The Standards) were developed under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, and came into effect in August 2005.
In 2020, the Department of Education, Skills and Employment undertook the third review of the Standards on behalf of the Minister for Education. For more information, see the 2020 Review page.
Here you will find the Review’s final report, as well as a short summary document that outlines how the Review was undertaken, what the Review found and what it recommends. This summary document is available in Auslan, Easy Read, and 11 community languages.
The Australian Government will work closely with state and territory governments and education authorities to implement recommendations. Changes will be made with help and advice from people with disability and educators. This will include and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability. The Government will keep the community up to date about progress on these changes.
Resources to support the implementation of the Standards
The 2020 Review recommends that the Australian Government develop new information products on the Standards in consultation with people with disability.
The products will:
- help students with disability and their families to understand their rights under the Standards
- help education providers to know their responsibilities under the Standards
- help organisations involved in the development and accreditation of curriculum to know their responsibilities under the Standards.
Several resources already exist to help students with disability and their families to know their rights under the Standards, and for education providers to understand their responsibilities under the Standards. These resources are listed below.
The Disability Standards for Education 2005 Guidance Notes provide additional material to help education providers interpret and comply with the Standards.
The following fact sheets, developed in 2014, help students, parents, and schools to understand the Standards, and ensure that students with disability can access and participate in school education on the same basis as students without disability.
- Fact sheet 1: Disability Discrimination Act 1992
- Fact sheet 2: Disability Standards for Education 2005
- Fact sheet 3: Parental engagement
- Fact sheet 4: Effective consultation
- Fact sheet 5: Complaints processes
A practical guide for individuals, families and communities
The Disability Standards for Education: A practical guide for individuals, families and communities is a resource for parents/carers, children, students, and the community. These resources were developed by the University of Canberra on behalf of the department in 2014.
Exemplars of Practice
As part of the 2015 Review of the Standards, people said that greater awareness was needed to practically implement the Standards. The Exemplars of Practice were developed by Urbis in consultation with stakeholders. They demonstrate how the Standards can be used to support better educational outcomes and experiences for students in early learning, schools, vocational education and training, and higher education.
The 2020 Review recommends that the Australian Government review and expand on these Exemplars of Practice.