Abstract:
According to the United Nations (2016) General Comment No. 4 on the Conventions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) right to inclusive education, ‘inappropriate and inadequate funding mechanisms’ are one of the barriers to accessing inclusive education. However, in the existing literature, funding models are a mostly underexamined aspect of inclusive education promotion. This presentation argues, using the case of Australia, that it is necessary to examine the extent to which funding models have the potential to promote inclusive education, or whether they function as a ‘band-aid’ compensating for the structural characteristics of educational systems. The presentation starts with a short overview of the funding system for students with disability in Australia at the Government and State levels. An analysis follows of how funding is discussed in the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. A commonly used framework (European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, 2016; Brussino, 2020), framed by two main dimensions 'Who are the funding recipients' and 'What are the conditions for funding', identifies three main types of funding mechanisms; a) Input: demand-driven model, b) Throughput: supply-driven model, and c) Output: model focusing on the results achieved. This analysis proposes the addition of a third dimension of 'What is the purpose of funding at the system, school, and student levels'. The presentation demonstrates that the Commission’s recommendations fall short of redirecting 'adequate resources to a nationwide inclusive education system for all students', which was one of the concluding observations (UNCRPD, 2019) on Australia's combined second and third periodic CRPD reports. Potential reasons for this shortcoming, including the impact of the split of opinions amongst the Commissioners on what constitutes inclusive education, and implications for the future of inclusive education are presented.
References
Brussino, O. (2020). Mapping policy approaches and practices for the inclusion of students with special education needs. OECD.
European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. (2016), Financing of Inclusive Education. Background Information Report, EASNIE.
The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. (2023). Final report volume 7 – Inclusive Education, employment and Housing -Part A. Commonwealth of Australia.
United Nations. (2016). General Comment No. 4 on the right to inclusive education. UN.
UNCRPD. [United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities] (2019). Concluding observations on the combined second and third periodic reports of Australia. UN.
References
Brussino, O. (2020). Mapping policy approaches and practices for the inclusion of students with special education needs. OECD.
European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. (2016), Financing of Inclusive Education. Background Information Report, EASNIE.
The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. (2023). Final report volume 7 – Inclusive Education, employment and Housing -Part A. Commonwealth of Australia.
United Nations. (2016). General Comment No. 4 on the right to inclusive education. UN.
UNCRPD. [United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities] (2019). Concluding observations on the combined second and third periodic reports of Australia. UN.