Special Education covers the education of children with particular needs. In this instance, we have concentrated on students who exhibit special requirements in the areas of behaviour disorders and learning, physical, hearing or vision impairment. Gifted students, who also have specific needs, are treated separately.

Special Education provides programs and support through several methods. This may be through the regular classroom, with support of modified curriculum or additional human resources, placement in special classes within regular schools - which may be smaller in size, allowing for more individual attention or, if impairment is significant, it may mean placement in special schools, again with smaller class groups and other modifications. In addition, other resources are available such as transport, building modifications, Individual Education Plans and technology, designed to make learning as easy, enjoyable and effective as possible.

All systems prefer an inclusive approach wherever possible, taking into account the level of impairment involved, the special needs of an individual student and the needs of other students who may be affected.

This page looks at general information from all Australian states & territories.

The Second Page looks at Inclusive Education, technology and general Australian and international sites.

You might also consider inclusions on the Special Education Resources page for possible options.

Neither page attempts to target specialised areas, that being left to individual pages.

States & Territories

Australian Capital Territory

• Applying for Special Education Services
  Services provided. Contact details for further information and applications.
• Disability Coordination Office
  ACT and South East New South Wales. ‘Information to assist people with a disability transition from school to adult life. Includes region-specific information’.
• Disability Criteria for ACT Students
• Special Education Section
  ‘Manages the provision of educational services to students with disabilities in ACT government schools’. Contact number provided.
• Special Education Unit Locations
  Contact details, websites.
• Students with a Disability : Meeting their Educational Needs
  Policy from the Department of Education.
• Students with Special Needs [Disabilities] Policy
  ‘Identification and support provisions for students with Special Needs [Disabilities]’ in the Canberra/Goulburn Catholic Education area.
• Transport for Students with Disabilities

New South Wales

• Children’s Services New South Wales
  ‘Wide range of service types to ensure that individual care and educational needs of families are best matched to their service delivery needs. The services listed on this web site support young children and their families, and the people who work with them’.
• Disability Access
  Whole of Life - All of Life. ‘Assisting people with disabilities to find education and training information’. Department of Education and Training.
• NSW Health Children’s Topics
  Includes Publications, Resources, fact Sheets and Links. Many are of a medical nature, but there are a number that relate to the Special Education area, e.g., ADHD, Autism, Hearing Loss.
• Services for Students With Disabilities
  ‘TAFE NSW employs specialist Teacher/Consultants for Students with Disabilities to ensure that people with a disability have equal access to education and training at TAFE NSW campuses’. Access PDF brochures for specific disabilities and what help is available. Specialist pages include TAFE Institutes Disability Services [scroll down to find individual institute links], TVET for School Students with a Disability.
• Special Education in Catholic Schools
  Catholic Education Commission. Select Special Learning Needs options from the left menu. Access Catholic Special Schools here by selecting Search for a Special school.
• Supporting Students with Disabilities
  Department of Education & Training.
• The Learning Assistance Program
  ‘Supports students experiencing difficulties in learning in regular classes, regardless of the cause. It includes support for students with significant learning difficulties, mild intellectual disabilities and language disorders’.
• Who’s Going to Teach My Child ?
  A Guide for Parents of Students with Special Learning Needs. Provides information for parents.

Northern Territory

• Early Childhood Intervention
  ‘The planned provision of specialist services designed to meet the overall developmental and learning needs of the child. The aim of Early Childhood Intervention is to minimise the impact of developmental delay and disability on a child’s development and learning’.
• Educational Psychologists/Guidance
  Information, contact details, Guidance Information Sheet.
• Special Education Students
  Part of the Parent pack.
• Special Education and Disability
  Information, links to Hearing, Vision, Guidance, Behaviour, Early Childhood Intervention, Therapy Services, Special Education.

Top of Page

Queensland

• Disability Services Queensland
  ‘Leaders in innovation and partnership in the disability field’.
• Disability Services Support Unit
  ‘Enhance and facilitate inclusive education practices. This work involves supporting specialists who support students with disabilities’.
• DSSU Professional Community
  Professional development support for this area. The Learning Place.
• Education Adjustment Program
  ‘A process for identifying and responding the educational needs of students with disabilities. Adjustments are made for students with disabilities to enable them to access the curriculum, achieve curriculum outcomes and participate in school life’. All details can be found here.
• Hearing Impairment
  Information, information sheets on areas such as Cochlear Implants, hearing aids, teacher roles. Also check Hearing Impairment at The Learning Place.
• Inclusive Education [Qld]
  Legislation & Policy. PDF documents.
• Special Education
  Government schools. Check Learning & Disability Support in the left menu.
• Special Needs : Professional Development Package
  ‘Helps teachers become aware of the KISS [Know and do - Instructions - Situation - Success] planning framework, which supports the design and implementation of learning opportunities to meet the diverse learning needs of students’. PowerPoint presentation, brochures, school case studies, supporting documents, more.
• Student Management & Support

South Australia

• Catholic Schools Special Education
  Introduction, explanation, contact point.
• Disabilities & Information Resource Centre
• Disabilities & Additional Needs
  ‘Developed to provide parents and caregivers with information relating to children with disabilities and learning difficulties and the support provided by the Department of Education and Children’s Services’.
• Special Options and Statewide Programs for Students with Disabilities
  Details these in SA but you should also ‘Note that the majority of students with disabilities who meet the eligibility criteria for the Disability Support Program are not enrolled in a special option, but attend year level classes, with additional support’.
• Learning Difficulties/Learning Disabilities
• Special Education [AIS]
  The targetted program for Special Education in the Independent School’s System.
• Special Education Resource Unit

Tasmania

• Disabilities Information
  ‘Easily accessible, educationally relevant information for teachers and others in supporting roles in schools on a range of disabilities and disabling conditions’.
• Guidelines for Individual Education Planning
  Information, downloads in Word and PDF formats.
• If Your Child Has Special Needs
  Information on meeting special needs.
• Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in Regular Schools
  Inclusive practice. Guidelines, Essential learning, Curriculum Projects, several downloads.
• Policies & Guidelines
  Special Education and Inclusion.
• Special Learning Needs [AIST]
  Contact point to access forms about special needs in Tasmanian independent schools. Select from among the listed documents.
• Students With Disabilities [Tas.]
  Introduction, links to resources/sites, contact points.
• Support Materials
  Two listings - one for Department of Education, one for External Resources.
• Transition Planning for Students with a Disability
  ‘My Future Let’s Plan has been developed to assist young people with a disability as they move into adulthood. It is based on sound theory and promising practice’.

Top of Page

Victoria

• Centre for Developmental Disability Health
  ‘Academic unit established by the Victorian State Government to improve health outcomes for people with developmental disabilities through a range of educational, research and clinical activities’. Information, research activities.
• Divine [Victoria]
  ‘DiVine is an exciting new website written by and for people with a disability. DiVine was created by the Victorian government after talking to people with a disability in Victoria about what you wanted on the web’.
• Office for Disability
  Access the Divine site [above], policies, legislation, advocacy information, research, resources and in particular the Bar None Kit for Schools which ‘provides information and curriculum support for teachers’ and has a number of components.
• Program for Students with Disabilities
• Program for Students with Disabilities Handbook
  Handbook in PDF format. Other documents in Word format.
• Student Support, Health & Safety
  ‘Measures in place to ensure students are supported at school and have proper access to health and safety services’. Several sections covered.
• Student Wellbeing - Disability Services
  Information on programs.
• Student Wellbeing - Abilities Awareness
  ‘Make all people aware of what they can do, not what they can’t do, and to talk about the abilities people with a disability have. The program offers one hour Disability Awareness Workshops for Preps - Year 12’.

Western Australia

• Centre for Inclusive Schooling
  Learning difficulties.
• Inclusive Education
  Information on inclusive learning environments, care & protection, student activity enhancement, community support.
• Schools Plus
  ‘This is a model of informed practice to match educational need to supplementary resourcing support for schools. Schools Plus makes practical links between teaching and learning adjustments, services and support, professional learning and supplementary resourcing for schools’.
• WA Institute for Deaf Education
  ‘Provides a State-wide co-ordinated service for children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Parents are provided with a choice of educational settings, ranging from an inclusive placement in a regular school, through to metropolitan specialist schools that are located in inclusive settings and specifically cater for Deaf and Hard of Hearing children’. You can download a Brochure about the Institute here.

Top of Page

© D & B Mann Webmasters. All rights reserved. Last updated - 26 January 2012.
Best viewed at a resolution of 1280 x 800 or greater. We use and recommend Mozilla Firefox as the preferred browser.