ADCET Submissions

The Australian Government invited feedback about Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021-2031 (ADS) as part of an ongoing review process to ensure it is working as planned, and to see if there are new things that should be included. ADS is a national framework that all governments in Australia have signed up to. It sets out a plan for continuing to improve the lives of people with disability in Australia over ten years. In response ADCET has put forward a submission that highlights suggestions to strengthening the ADS to ensure it support the full implementation of the UNCRPD, particularly Article 24, in Australian higher education settings. (September 2024)

This submission in response to the governments consultation paper, provides a range of observations about the proposed model and offers suggestions for enhancement and improvement to the Needs-Based Funding (NBF) model that will ensure that students with disability are enabled to reach their potential at university. These suggestions range from short-term implementable updates to the proposed NBF model, to elements of the longer-term cultural and systemic change that will be required to fully realise the government’s vision of educational equity in universities. (August 2024)

ADCET has provided feedback to the establishment of an Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC), a new Managed Growth Funding System in order to ensure people with disability have fair access to education and learning. The submission outlines ADCET's concerns and offers recommendations for improvement, addressing both papers together given the overlap in the threats and opportunities for the success of students with disability. (July 2024)

Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training (ADCET) and various disability peak bodies are devastated by the use of ableist language and the deliberate exclusion of people with profound disability in the Australian University Accord 2024 and have called for an urgent review in a joint submission.

The Australian Government Department for Social Services is partnering with the Autism Collaborative Research Centre to prepare a co-design approach to develop a National Autism Strategy. As part of the consultation Australians were invited to comment on a community attitudes survey. ADCET has provided a response to this survey which is available for viewing. (May 2023)

In the Federal Budget 2023 - 2024 the Government has announced that the National Disability Coordination Officer (NDCO) Program will cease on 31 July 2023 (and 31 October 2012 for any outstanding contracts).

This will have a profound effect on the ongoing support the NDCO Program provides for ADCET. We know many stakeholders in the sector are concerned about retaining the vital and valuable work of ADCET and we encourage everyone to participate in the upcoming consultation that the Department of Education is planning in the coming months. 

As part of the Australian Government's Universities Accord Consultation ADCET submitted a detailed submission in response to the discussion paper. (April 2023)

As part of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability consultation included requests for submissions on key areas of participation for people with disability. One area is responding to the Royal Disability Commission's Education and Learning Issues Paper. (December 2022)

Following a referral from the Minister for Skills and Training in November 2022, the House Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training commenced an inquiry into the perceptions and status of vocational education and training. ADCET submitted a comprehensive submission addressing four key issues for the House Standing Committee to focus on. (November 2022)