For many families of students with disability, getting their child through the school gate each morning is already a daily battle. When the supports that make school workable are taken away, that battle can quickly become one they lose.
That is the warning from School Can’t Australia, which says the recent revelation that the Victorian government is reducing its 2027 funding allocation for Disability Inclusion in mainstream public schools will have wide-ranging consequences for students, their parents and carers, educators and the broader disability support sector.
According to the organisation, reduced access to support staff and specialist programs, along with ineffective or missing adjustments, is likely to create new barriers to education and heighten student stress. It also warns of increased mental ill health, burnout and education-related trauma, falling attendance rates, and a greater reliance on school behaviour systems to manage student distress.
Perhaps most concerning, School Can’t Australia says the cuts risk fuelling exclusion and gatekeeping in mainstream schools, leaving students feeling as though they are too much trouble or simply don’t belong.
The flow-on effects for families could be just as serious. Parents and carers may face greater stress and expense as they gather evidence and advocate for their child, while some may be forced to reduce or give up work to care for distressed and unwell children at home. Others could find themselves pushed into home education to protect their child’s mental health, with prolonged stress taking a toll on their own wellbeing.
Educators, too, are expected to feel the strain.
School Can’t Australia says teachers are likely to experience increased stress from supporting distressed students, burnout from sacrificing their own time to meet student needs, and greater exposure to parent distress. Many may also suffer moral injury, knowing they could help if only they were better resourced.
Tiffany Westphal, Co-director of School Can't Australia, said demand for the organisation’s support was already relentless.
“An estimated 70 – 80% of the parents and carers who seek support from School Can’t Australia are caring for students with disability,” Westphal said. “They seek support because their child can no longer attend school, due to the stress associated with unmet disability support needs.”
Westphal said demand for support has been “unrelenting” and has seen membership of School Can’t Australia’s peer support space exceed 20,000 parent/carers last month 2026.
“We need more done to understand the support needs of students with disability and more done to resource schools to meet those needs,” she said.
“School Can’t Australia’s leaders feel like they are trying to operate a first aid station at the bottom of an unfenced cliff. Disability Inclusion funding and support is the fence we need to stop the casualties”.
‘Support needs don’t just disappear’
School Can’t Australia is calling on the Victorian government to reverse the decision and commit to ensuring future disability inclusion funding is informed by data on the attendance, learning outcomes and wellbeing of students with disability. To make this possible, the organisation wants students with disability declared a “priority equity group” so that data collection becomes a priority.
It is also calling for genuine consultation with students themselves, their parents and carers, health and allied health professionals and educators, along with consideration of emerging research into disabled students’ experiences of school and the impact on their mental health, wellbeing and attendance.
Louise Rogers, Co-director of School Can't Australia, said the needs of these students would not vanish simply because the funding had.
“Support needs don’t just disappear, when eligibility criteria are changed or funding is reduced,” Rogers said. “Funding for disability inclusion pays for professional development in inclusive practise, specialist staff and accommodations, which facilitate access and enable the participation of disabled students in school-based education.”
Rogers said the stakes for Victoria’s students with disability could not be higher.
“Without adequate funding to pay for such supports, we fear that many more Victorian students will experience increasing levels of school-based distress and difficulties attending their local mainstream school as a result.”