Research evidence from before the pandemic suggests that despite a number of policy commitments and initiatives at local and national levels, we have seen only limited progress in moving towards inclusive education and that children and young people with disability often fare poorly in the education system. This is despite the fact that all of the evidence suggests that inclusive education is not just better for children and young people with disability, but can have significant positive impacts for the whole classroom.

This report explores the experiences of students with disability in relation to the educational changes made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key findings:

• Schools were unable to provide or reduced dramatically support for students in their education during the first COVID-19 lockdown
• Despite the well-known inequities they face in their education, there was a lack of assertive and proactive support for students with disability during the first lockdown
• The onus and thus ‘heavy lifting’ for providing inclusive education shifted from school staff to students and their families
• Individual Education Plans (IEPs) are not working in the way they should
• NDIS needs changed but were not secured during the pandemic