Thousands of students with a disability, including those as young as five, are receiving repeated suspensions from Australian schools amid calls from advocates for an overhaul of the education system.
A Guardian Australia analysis of school suspension data shows the number of students being suspended from schools is rising in most states, including among primary school aged students.
Nationally, more than 200,000 suspensions were handed out to students in 2022, with suspensions being given disproportionately to students with a disability, according to data lodged for the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability.
In New South Wales about 30,000 suspensions were given to students with disabilities in 2022, with 10,000 of these given to primary school aged students, and more than 2,500 to students in year 2 or below.
The NSW government is refusing to release data from term four in 2022 because of a change to its suspensions policy but the trend over the first three terms of the school year suggest the state was on track to record close to 70,000 suspensions.
Data from Queensland paints a similar picture, with almost half of all the 75,000 suspensions granted in 2022 going to students with a disability. Indigenous students are also overrepresented, with about a quarter of suspensions given to this cohort.
Primary school students in Queensland received more than 20,000 suspensions in 2022, including 685 in prep level, which can include children as young as four. The Queensland government is proposing changes to its suspension policy to give parents appeal rights and to put in place more support for disabled and Indigenous students before suspensions are used.
Victoria does not release suspension data publicly but its expulsion data shows that of the 176 students expelled in 2022, about a third were students with a disability categorisation of needing “substantial” or “extensive” adjustments.
South Australia has also recorded a jump in the number of suspensions it is giving students in public schools, with the figures increasing more than 10% between 2018 and 2022. It has refused a request to provide a breakdown according to disability status but a 2020 report found the risk of suspension for students with disability or additional needs in SA was 3.1 times higher than for other students.
In Tasmania students with disabilities are overrepresented in suspension data, receiving 30% of all suspensions in 2022. The number of suspensions in the state is on track to record its highest number of suspensions yet in 2023, with almost 9,000 in the first three terms of the year.
The use of exclusionary discipline against students with disability was raised in the disability royal commission as one of the key concerns raised by families of children with disabilities.
Linda Graham, the director of the Centre for Inclusive Education at Queensland University of Technology, said children with disabilities were being disproportionately expelled and suspended, and governments were not doing enough to prioritise the issue.
“Yes, teachers have a right to be safe and children have the right to be safe, but none of that negates the right of these children to an education.
“Government departments cannot just say bad luck when they are sent home for that time and their education goes out the window.”
Graham said she believed politicians had put the issue in the “too-hard basket” given that it was politically difficult.
For Doreen Salon and Adam Barclay, the data comes as no surprise. Their autistic daughter Sophia*, now seven, received her first suspension from an Adelaide primary school when she was just six years old.
Over a six-month period, Sophia missed 44 days of year 1 through a combination of multiple suspensions and, finally, an exclusion after episodes where she would become dysregulated and disturb the class or become aggressive towards other students.
After the first suspension, in a “reconnection meeting” in which Sophia was in a room with 12 other adults discussing her behaviour, the school broached the possibility of excluding her from school.
“Every time she was suspended or she was behaving badly, kids would say to her, ‘You’ll be in trouble again,’ and one day she just said, ‘It’s only me, Mama, I’m the only bad person,’” Salon told Guardian Australia.
Barclay, said he was concerned that the system incentivised suspensions, with Sophia’s record allowing them access to the support she ultimately needed – a 10-week placement at a special school for students with behavioural problems.
“It was very much a combination of the system incentivising that as a response. It’s a very blunt instrument but it’s the only one they have got in some ways.
“But the suspensions were anathema to what she needed. She needed routine and the chance to settle and every time she got suspended it was like starting from scratch again.”
He said the family understood the need to keep other children safe but did not think their case was well handled.
“There was a duty of care to the other students, absolutely. But how you can’t have a system where you can control or manage a six-year-old girl to get her away from other kids on campus just seems crazy,” he said.
Barclay said they didn’t dispute “the suspensions made sense for keeping the other kids safe” but they felt there was not a lot of help for Sophia, and the school’s statements made them feel there was no other option than to suspend.
A spokesperson for the SA Department for Education said the family had been assisted by the department in a number of ways, including through the funding of a support worker, the development of a behaviour support plan for Sophia and regular meetings.
“[The department] continues to work closely with their family to support ongoing engagement in a suitable learning program this year,” the spokesperson said.
“In addition to supporting the student and family, the school takes seriously its responsibility to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all staff and all students at the school.”
The school claimed some other students had been injured as a result of Sophia’s behaviour.
“She was suspended four times for violent behaviour towards others, totalling 13 days, and had three take homes, with school work provided at home on all occasions.”
The department said her placement at the special learning centre had enabled Sophia to learn “many strategies which have enabled her to return to her primary school in 2024 and where she has worked successfully within the classroom”.
“The student’s parents and staff continue to work collaboratively to ensure the best learning outcomes for this student.”
*Name changed for privacy reasons
