In October 2020, the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability conducted a public hearing in Brisbane to investigate the barriers experienced by children and young people with disability in accessing safe, quality and inclusive education (Public hearing 7). This is the report of the Commissioners who participated in Public hearing 7. 

Investigating barriers to accessing safe, quality and inclusive education is a priority for the Royal Commission. This priority is informed by the Royal Commission’s terms of reference, which direct it to inquire into what governments, institutions and the community should do to promote a more inclusive society that supports the independence of people with disability and their right to live free from violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.

Public hearing 7 was held from 12 to 16 October 2020 at the Royal Commission offices in Brisbane, Queensland. It resumed on 7 May 2021 for the presentation of oral submissions from Counsel Assisting and parties with leave to appear.

The scope of Public hearing 7 was to investigate the barriers experienced by children and young people with disability in accessing safe, quality and inclusive education in mainstream schools. In this Report, the terms ‘mainstream education’ or ‘mainstream school’ refer to schools, classes and units which provide education to both students with and without disability. The hearing focused on the government school systems in the jurisdictions of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland.

The purpose of this hearing was to address further the issues identified in the Queensland education system at Public hearing 2.