Students with chronic health conditions, the law and education: a salutary lesson from Australia

Abstract

Australia's legal and policy frameworks serve to exclude from education those children and young people who live with challenging and chronic health conditions. The Australian experience is detailed here because it offers insight for education systems of other nations into the consequences of systemic oversight and complicated legal requirements resulting in educational exclusion. Education systems in Australia have been left increasingly vulnerable to litigation by a failure to adequately address the education of these students. However, no specific exclusionary barriers or practices have been enacted – it is more a matter of neglect and oversight. This investigation also serves as a salutary warning for other nations about the significance of this expanding yet barely visible educational cohort. A recently completed study was designed to establish an empirical base about these students and their education because so little is known. The database project closely examined the international literature from a range of fields and a national database established by a philanthropic organisation that works closely with Australian paediatric hospitals. The purpose of this essay is to connect this recent investigation with the legal framework and policy silences to depict how education is not yet meeting the educational entitlements of this cohort of students.

Keywords:

• chronic health conditions
• education
• Australia
• policy
• legal framework
• disability
• neglect

Notes on contributor

Julie White is a Senior Research Fellow at The Victoria Institute at Victoria University, Melbourne. She formerly held academic posts at The University of Melbourne and La Trobe University. Her research interests include identity, social justice and inclusion and she is currently focused on research project focused on the education of children and young people with chronic health conditions.