School autonomy and discrimination against students with disability in Australian primary and secondary education settings: a scoping review

ABSTRACT

It is unlawful under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) for Australian schools to discriminate against students based on disability. Yet discrimination against students with disability is on the increase in Australian schools, and so is the decentralisation and autonomy of schools. This scoping review set out to determine what evidence exists of an association between school autonomy and discrimination against students with disability, primarily in Australia but with an additional examination of studies conducted in England. It further examined the type of research methods that have been used to investigate this topic. Included studies did not provide direct evidence of a causal association between school autonomy and discrimination against students with disability; however, the findings uncovered worrisome trends suggesting that an association may exist. Examination of the included studies’ research methods suggests that a more fit-for-purpose methodology is required to determine the association between school autonomy and discrimination against students with disability in primary and secondary education settings.

KEYWORDS:

• School autonomy
• school-based management
• discrimination
• disability
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (DDA)
• Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth) (DSE)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the J&K Wonderland Foundation.

Notes on contributors

Jill Duncan

Dr Jill Duncan has an eclectic professional portfolio of executive-level public service, educational leadership in the not-for-profit sector, and academia. She is currently an academic for the University of Newcastle (Australia) and serves on both government advisory boards and not-for-profit boards.

Renee Punch

Dr. Renée Punch holds an Adjunct Professional Fellow position in the Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University. She is a researcher in the area of disability and inclusion, with a particular focus on deafness. She has published widely in peer-reviewed journals in the areas of inclusive education, children and young people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and adults with hearing loss in the workplace.

Mark Gauntlett

Dr Mark Gauntlett teaches in the Law School at the University of Newcastle, Australia. His research interests include anti-discrimination law and Australian constitutional law.

Ruth Talbot-Stokes

Ruth Talbot-Stokes is a manager in the library's academic engagement team at the University of Newcastle, prior to this role she was the Senior Research Librarian for the Faculties of Education & Arts and Business & Law. With ten years' experience as the University's law librarian from 2001 to 2011 her expertise in legal research, coupled with more recent experience in developing search strategies for educational research, have allowed her to support the team in gathering academic quality resources and proof-reading the text.