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The Victorian Government wants to hear about the experiences of school students with a disability. The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission is conducting the research. Complaints about students being treated unfairly have been increasing. Students, parents, educators and community organisations can all have a say. You can complete a survey. There will also be special information sessions in regional Victoria in February 2012. Community organisations can also submit written responses.

Posted by: Graham Clements, on 05/12/11

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The Victorian Government wants to hear about school experiences

The Victorian Government is researching the experiences of school students with a disability. The research is being undertaken by the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. The commission wants to hear from students, parents, educators and community support organisations.

The commission says it has received an increasing number of complaints about disability discrimination in education. Their research aims to identify what problems students with disabilities experience.

There are a number of ways to take part in the research:

Surveys

There are three separate surveys. There are surveys for:

The surveys ask questions about topics like:

The surveys can be mailed or completed online. They take 20 to 30 minutes to complete. Students need to be over 13 years old to complete a survey. Students can be attending government or independent schools.

The surveys can be found on the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission's website (opens new window).

Regional consultations

Students, parents and educators can participate in regional consultations during February 2012. Details will be released soon.

Written submissions

Community organisations and people who provide support to people with disabilities can email written submissions.

Contact details

For more information, call the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission on (03) 9032 3422 or email research@vic.gov.au. You can also visit the Disability in schools page on the commission's website (opens new window).

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Readers comments (1)

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Posted by: Shanty Wilson, Carrum 08/12/2011 at 02:30pm

I highly recommend all who are affected by disability discrimination within the education system to make a submission. I've been informed in writing by the Victorian Auditor General's Office (VAGO) that there is a proposed future audit for 2012/2013 into 'Students with Special Learning Needs'. The scope of this proposed audit is still to be determined, so this is also an opportunity for parents and students to submit their experiences to VAGO. I also understand that there are other independent Victorian government agencies who are interested in these outcomes. These inquiries are well overdue and at least as a parent of three children with disabilities it gives us an opportunity to raise our concerns to the right levels who can review the systemic issues that causes rise to discrimination within the education system of Victoria....or is it more individual decisions makers within the DEECD that is the real cause? I wouldn't want any family with children with disabilities to go through what we have, being forced to undertake 3 conciliation process's via human rights commissions within a 12 months period with the DEECD, representing our children's civil rights. It wouldn't of happened if Regional Offices for the DEECD kept on ignoring the disability legislative rights of students with disabilities.

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