February, 2025
The Down Syndrome Australia Consortium (DSA Consortium) is pleased to support the amendment to include the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector in the Disability Standards for Education (DSE). The DSA Consortium supported this recommendation from the 2020 Review of the DSE and is pleased to see this progress some years later. We believe that the inclusion of these services under the DSE will assist those organisations in understanding their existing responsibilities and meet their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992.
It has been the experience of members of our community and within the DSA Consortium that despite the application of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, that children with disability have experienced discrimination in ECEC settings and particularly in Outside School Hours Care settings. It is in these settings where providers have refused enrolment, without reference to legislation. We hope that the Department of Education can provide support to the ECEC organisations included in the amendment to ensure that continued policing of the sector isn’t left to members of the disability community. This could include proactive education, resource provision and support to ECEC providers to emphasise their obligations and support necessary changes to their services to ensure inclusion of children with disability.