29/11/2025
As a parent with neurodivergent children, I have had to advocate very strongly for my children on how they are best supported in the school environment.
I’m not blaming the educators, I’m just blaming another very broken system.
An unprecedented Federal Court ruling has halted an ACT high school from expelling a Year 8 boy with ADHD — and every parent, provider, and disability advocate should be paying attention.
While a discrimination complaint was still open with the Australian Human Rights Commission, the school moved to make the boy’s enrolment “untenable.” Instead of supporting him, they attempted to remove him.
The Court intervened, ordering the school to pause all disciplinary action and protect the child’s enrolment while the discrimination case proceeds.
This isn’t just one case.
This is a national pattern — and it’s getting worse.
The truth is this: the education system is failing kids with disability.
For years, families have reported the same cycle:
➡️ schools not meeting support needs
➡️ behaviour escalating because needs aren’t met
➡️ suspensions and expulsions used as punishment
➡️ the child pushed out of education entirely
This ruling confirms what disability advocates have been saying:
“Support needs must come BEFORE discipline — not after the damage is done.”
Julie Phillips from the Disability Discrimination Legal Service says expulsions only make behaviour worse. Research backs this up.
Yet across the country, kids with disabilities are still facing higher suspension and expulsion rates than any other group.
This isn’t a school problem —
it’s a systemic failure, fuelled by underfunding, lack of accountability, and an outdated approach to behaviour that punishes disability instead of supporting it.
Why this matters to the NDIS community
NDIS participants deserve full access to education — not to be sidelined because a school “can’t cope.”
Families already battle:
✔ inaccessible classrooms
✔ inconsistent behaviour support
✔ staff without disability training
✔ schools pushing kids out instead of making adjustments
✔ constant blame placed on parents instead of systems
This court decision shows that exclusion is not just unfair — it may be unlawful.
This is a wake-up call for governments: the system needs reform NOW.
We need:
🔹 A national ban on discriminatory suspensions and expulsions
🔹 Mandatory disability training for all teachers and principals
🔹 Enforceable standards for reasonable adjustments
🔹 Proper funding for behaviour support across all school systems
🔹 Accountability mechanisms when schools fail to support disabled students
🔹 Real consequences for schools that push students out instead of supporting them
🔹 Stronger alignment between the NDIS and Education systems so families stop falling between gaps
No more bandaid fixes.
No more blaming children for system failures.
No more quietly shuffling kids from school to school until they disappear from education altogether.
This case proves something powerful:
When families stand up, the system can be forced to stop and listen.
But families shouldn’t have to go to the Federal Court just to stop discrimination.
Australia needs a school system that includes, supports, and values every child — not one that pushes disabled students out the moment things get hard.
It’s time for real reform.
Our kids deserve better — and we’ll keep fighting until the system changes.
