Why More Australian Students Are Getting Disability Adjustments
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📰 The quick summary: More than a quarter of Australian students now receive a disability adjustment at school, shining a light on how the current funding model may actually discourage schools from making classrooms accessible from the start.
📈 One key stat: 27.2% of Australian students now receive a disability adjustment at school, up from 18% in 2015, signaling a major shift in how educational needs are being identified and supported.
💬 One key quote: “The emphasis on making adjustments, rather than designing for accessibility from the outset, is what needs to change.”
1️⃣ The big picture: Over one in four Australian students currently receives a formal disability adjustment at school, a figure that has grown significantly from 18% in 2015 to 27.2% in 2025. Educational adjustments help students with disability participate on equal footing with their peers and can range from noise-cancelling headphones to one-on-one support staff. Australia moved to a needs-based funding model in 2018, allocating extra money based on the level of adjustment a student requires rather than requiring a medical diagnosis. Researchers now point out that this model unintentionally creates a financial incentive for schools to provide higher-level adjustments rather than investing in universally accessible teaching from the start. COVID-19 lockdowns, shifting state policies, and structural flaws in the funding design all appear to be contributing to the steady rise in adjustment numbers.
2️⃣ Why is this good news: Growing awareness of student needs means more children are getting the support they require to participate fully in education, rather than being overlooked or left behind. The shift away from requiring a medical diagnosis has made the system more equitable, reducing the advantage that wealthier families previously had in securing funding through expensive private assessments. Researchers and policymakers are now openly examining the structural flaws in the model, which is a necessary first step toward designing a fairer, more effective system. Fixing the model to reward accessible classroom design from the outset could benefit all learners, not just those with a formal disability classification. A better-designed system could ultimately reduce the need for intensive individual adjustments by ensuring quality, inclusive teaching reaches every student by default.
3️⃣ What’s next: Researchers are calling for critical evaluation and redesign of the current funding model to reward schools that prioritize accessible teaching from the outset. Dedicated funding will be needed to assess and improve the quality of everyday classroom instruction across Australia. The federal government’s compliance measures are unlikely to resolve the deeper structural issues, so broader reform discussions are expected to continue.
Read the full story here: The Conversation – 27% of Australian students now have an adjustment for disability at school. Why are we seeing this growth?
